Flight of the Phoenix
by O-Mega Lead
Summary: Harry Potter didn't know what would happen when he entered the Chamber of Secrets, nor did he really care. The one thing he did know, however, was that he would save Ginevra Weasley, no matter the cost.
1. The Secret Chamber

Disclaimer: I do not assume to own Harry Potter. I only assume rights to the order of the words and to any new ideas I add and create.

A/N: The first introductory portion of my story will be from the works of J.K. Rowling, _Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, _pgs. 304 – 305. I will continue to follow the general direction of the cannon, however, in the sense that the larger events that happen will also occur in my works (Sirius Black escape, Tri-Wizard Cup, etc. until the end of the Order of the Phoenix). As I have not read the books in many years (apart from the _Chamber of Secrets_ right now– chapter sixteen only), any similarities in wording with her works are unintentional. The dialogue for the first part of my story will be borrowed from what I remember of the movie, as I find it to work well with the setup. This is a blanket disclaimer for the rest of the fiction; only the normal disclaimer will appear in my following works.

A/N: This is just an idea that I got one morning after a particularly good pot of tea. I hope you all enjoy reading it as much as I enjoy writing it. Also, while I am an accomplished beta and therefore do not send my works out for spelling of grammar, I would appreciate any "Brit-pickers" who feel they are up to fixing my Americanized work. For example, I always used to think "levelled" and "defence" were mis-spellings of "leveled" and "defense," but when if you think of it, the reverse is true. I digress, however; for any interested in aiding me with Brit-picking, please message me through the PM system or through my email on the site, or review with the suggestions. All help in this area would be appreciated.

Finally, to my readers of "The Golden Truth," I have been a bit out of sorts with the Golden Sun realm for a while and have decided to try my hand at another favored series.

A/N: This story has been updated and is now congruent with my writing style as of June 2011. Small parts have been edited, and little sections have been added upon or re-written as setup for later chapters. Also, formatting is now up to date with my current standards.

And now, I leave you to the story:

* * *

"_Wait there" Harry called to Ron. "Wait with Lockhart. I'll go on. . . . If I'm not back in an hour . . ."_

_There was a very pregnant pause._

"_I'll try and shift some of this rock," said Ron, who seemed to be trying to keep his voice steady. "So you can – can get back through. And, Harry –" _

"_See you in a bit," said Harry, trying to inject some confidence into his voice._

_And he set off alone past the giant snakeskin._

_Soon the distant noise of Ron straining to shift the rocks was gone. The tunnel turned and turned again. Every nerve in Harry's body was tingling unpleasantly. He wanted the tunnel to end, yet dreaded what he'd find when it did. And then, at last, as he crept around another bend, he saw a solid wall ahead on which two entwined serpents were carved, their eyes set with great, glinting emeralds._

_Harry approached, his throat very dry. There was no need to pretend these stone snakes were real; their eyes looked very alive._

_He could guess what he had to do. He cleared his throat, and the emerald eyes seemed to flicker._

"Open_," said Harry, in a low, faint hiss._

_The serpents parted as the wall cracked open, the halves slid smoothly out of sight, and Harry, shaking from head to foot, walked inside._

* * *

Harry Potter and the Flight of the Phoenix

Book Two, Chapter One – The Secret Chamber

* * *

Harry stepped past the archway and into darkness. As he took another step forward, dim torches sprang to life, lighting the walls from where he entered to the end of the chamber. Looking around quickly, he saw giant statues of snakeheads, mouths open and fangs protruding on both sides of the chamber, following the long, wet stone path to a wider area at the end. As he slowly approached walked forward, he kept looking around and listening in case he ran into the basilisk. About a third of the way up to the chamber proper, Harry saw the far wall come into focus, noticing there was a head of a man carved into the rock. On the ground in front of the head was pool of standing water, and in front of that,

"Ginny…" Harry breathed, seeing the girl lying prone, her red hair sharply contrasting with the dark colors of her robes and the chamber itself. Taking all of one second to decide, he ran the rest of the way down the stone walkway, splashing water as he carelessly sprinted through the smaller puddles of water littering the ground. "Ginny, wake up. Please, wake up…" Harry said, kneeling down on the damp floor besides her and turning her face up, shaking her shoulder gently. As she continued to lay lifeless, he began to feel a slight panic building inside of himself. He placed his wand down and reached out to touch her hand, shocked to find it ice cold. Just as his eyes landed on Riddle's diary, he heard a voice behind him.

"She won't wake." Turning, Harry saw the same person that he saw in the diary standing before him now, not a day older. Pushing aside his confusion on how the boy did not age, Harry quickly glanced back to Ginny, trying to think of a plan to get them all out of there.

"What do you mean she won't wake up? She's not…" Harry trailed off, turning back to the girl, his throat tightening as he refused to finish the sentence, even though the word hung clearly in the now stifling air, _dead_.

"No, she is still alive…" Tom said, walking slowly closer to Harry and Ginny. Harry could hardly believe it, but relief and hope coursed through him.

"Tom! You have to help me move Ginny. There's a basilisk—" Harry started, turning to the boy who was now standing next to Harry and had picked up Harry's wand.

"It won't come until it is called." Tom said evenly, taking a small step back.

"What are you talking about? We have to get out of here, we have to save her!" Harry said, getting a bit impatient with the other boy. '_We may still be able to save Ginny if we can get her help soon._'

"I can't let you do that, Harry," Tom said, turning to face the head of stone. Turning his head back, Tom grinned at Harry, "It was Ginny who opened the Chamber of Secrets, Ginny who set the Basilisk on the mudbloods and wrote the threatening messages on the walls."

"No, she couldn't… She wouldn't…" Harry said, slowly standing and looking at Ron's sister. "Why?"

Tom smirked at this, "Because I told her to. I think you will find that I can be very… _persuasive_." The more Tom talked, the wider his smile grew. "Not that she knew what she was doing… she was, shall we say, in a kind of trance?"

"So you are the Heir of Slytherin," Harry said more than asked, the beginnings of anger building inside of him. "You opened the Chamber of Secrets before…"

"Indeed, but after opening the chamber and framing Hargrid for the mudblood's death, Dumbledore kept an annoyingly close watch on me. I knew it wouldn't be safe to open the Chamber again while I was at Hogwarts, so I left behind a diary, preserving my 16-year old self in its pages so that one day, someone could finish Salazar Slytherin's noble work. But killing mudbloods doesn't matter to me, anymore. No, for a while now, my new target," Tom paused, drawing it out, "Has been you."

"Me? Why me?" Tom only grinned at Harry once more, savoring his confusion before turning around and, using Harry's wand, Wrote his name. _Tom Marvolo Riddle_. Swiping his wand, the letters scrambled and formed new words. _I Am Lord Voldemort_.

"You…" Harry said, feeling his anger increase as he looked at the boy who would one day kill his parents.

"Yes. I fashioned myself a new name, a name I knew would one day make all wizards tremble in fear, when I became the greatest sorcerer in the world!"

"Albus Dumbledore is the greatest sorcerer in the world!" Harry said, glaring at Riddle.

Tom only smiled again at Harry's outburst, "Dumbledore has been driven out of this castle by the mere _memory_ of me."

"Dumbledore will never be gone. Not as long as those who remain are loyal to him!" Harry said, just as the cry of a phoenix was heard. Looking over, they both watched as Fawkes dropped the sorting hat into Harry's hands and took off again.

"So this is what Dumbledore gives his great champion, a songbird and an old hat. Let's see how you fare against Slytherin's might." Turning to the statue, Tom raised his wand-free hand, "_Speak to me, Salazar, Greatest of the Hogwarts Four!_"

The statue rumbled to life as its mouth slowly opened. Seconds later, the largest serpent Harry had ever seen slithered out. '_At least its eyes are closed…_' Harry dimly thought as he turned and ran.

"_Kill him! Only obey my voice!_" Thinking quickly, he turned sharply to run into one of the tunnels, but slipped on a puddle of water. As he heard the snake approach again, Harry heard a phoenix cry again and saw Fawkes swoop down past him and to where the basilisk was. In the shadows cast by torchlight, Harry saw Fawkes attack the serpent as he scrambled to his feet.

"No!" Tom cried as Harry heard the basilisk hiss in pain, "Your bird may have blinded the basilisk, but he can still hear you!"

Harry saw Fawkes vanish into flames as he ran into the adjoining tunnels, followed closely by the basilisk. Seeing a tunnel branch off to the main chamber again, Harry ran to it, only to find it grated off by steel. Turning quickly, Harry saw the basilisk pause, beginning to peer into the tunnel branch. Looking around him for a weapon, Harry saw a rock and quickly thought of a plan. Quietly grabbing it, he threw it past the basilisk and to the tunnel. The basilisk heard the noise and turned, slithering past Harry and taking a branch in the tunnel that lead away from the main chamber.

Sighing in relief for now, Harry ran out to Ginny again. This time, she looked even paler than before.

"In a few minutes the process will be complete, Ginny Weasley will be dead… And I will cease to be a memory." Tom said, an evil smile growing rapidly on his face, "Lord Voldemort will return, _very much alive_."

As he finished saying that, the basilisk burst up from the pool in front of Slytherin's head and Harry quickly threw on the sorting hat thinking, '_Help! Help! I need to fight this thing so I can save Ginny!_' As he thought that, he felt a weight rest gently on his head. Taking off the sorting hat, he saw something silver in the folds. Grabbing it and pulling it out, Harry was amazed to see a ruby-encrusted sword. Harry stood quickly and ran away from Ginny, hoping to fight the snake without hurting her.

As he reached the side of the chamber, he scrambled up Salazar's head. The basilisk followed, rearing up as it heard Harry climb. It struck, but Harry managed to dodge, swinging the sword and hitting a glancing blow off of the snake's nose. Again the snake struck with Harry dodging and hitting another glancing blow, '_This isn't working! I need to find a spot where this will get through…_' Harry thought, looking down at the redhead, the sight of her seeming to fill him with strength and determination. Looking over the snake, Harry tried to think of a place as he dodged the snake and flailed the sword, missing it and causing him to stumble. Regaining his footing, Harry looked to see the snake strike again. Its mouth open wide, Harry watched as it flew towards him. Reacting more than thinking, he struck, stabbing the sword up though the basilisk's mouth and through its head. Pulling it out, the snake roared as it flailed its head before falling with a great thud that shook the chamber.

Adrenalin still pumping, Harry was surprised at the pressure and twinge he felt on his arm. Looking down, he pulled out the fang that was stuck in his sword arm. Climbing down Slytherin's head quickly, he kneeled down by Ginny again, dropping the sword and fang nearby. All he could think was '_No…_' as he felt the wound begin to burn white-hot.

"Remarkable, isn't it? How quickly the venom of the basilisk penetrates the body. I guess you have little more than a minute to live. You'll be with your dear mudblood mother soon, Harry." Riddle said, looking down at the boy who killed the basilisk. Harry merely looked down at Ginny, reaching out and holding her ice cold hand. '_I failed her… And Ron…_' Harry thought as his vision began to get a little cloudy. "Funny, the damage a silly little book can do, _especially_ in the hands of a _silly little girl_."

Releasing Ginny's hand, Harry pulled the diary from her and placed it on the floor of the chamber. '_If nothing more, I can try to stop him…_' Harry thought as he grabbed the basilisk fang and faced Riddle.

"What are you doing? No!" Riddle cried as Harry stabbed the book with the fang. Ink poured out from the book as he pressed down. The Tom before him began cracking apart, bleeding white light through from the centre. Tom screamed as the venom burned through the diary. He began to glow brighter and brighter and then his entire body blew apart, silence once again returning to the chamber.

Letting go of the fang, Harry slumped, elbows on his crossed legs. His vision was deteriorating quickly and he felt himself begin breathing heavier as he noticed movement in front of him as Ginny sat up.

"Ginny…" He said weakly and the girl turned quickly to face him.

"Harry! It was me… I-I opened the chamber, but I didn't mean to. Riddle made me…" She trailed off as she took in his haggard appearance. "Harry you're hurt…" She said as her eyes locked onto the basilisk wound on his arm. '_I set the basilisk on the school and now I got Harry hurt while he was trying to rescue me…_'

"Don't worry about me. Ginny, you need to get yourself out. Follow the chamber and you'll find Ron." Harry said as his vision became completely murky. '_At least I know Ginny will be alright… I'm glad I could help her, even if this is the end…_' he thought, imagining her smiling face brightening up the day what seemed like so long ago.

"Harry, I can't…" Harry heard her voice, sounding like it came from farther and farther away as blackness overcame his vision, white-hot pain now the only thing he was conscious of as he slumped forward.

* * *

Ginny's eyes filled with tears as she reached out and touched his face, gasping since it was ice cold. '_I won't leave him… I'll drag him to Ron, maybe we can still save him!_' Ginny thought, even though she didn't believe it. She went behind him and grabbed his shoulders, beginning to drag him, but after straining herself, she barely moved him a foot. Gently placing him down, she glanced at him through tear-filled eyes, deciding she'd come back for him with help. Holding her sobs in as she bent over Harry, Ginny kissed his forehead lightly, whispering "I'll come back for you, Harry."

Then, gathering her strength, she stood and walked from the room, her sobs finally breaking free and echoing throughout the chamber. When she finally reached the end of the chamber, she walked through the snake archway and walked straight back like Harry instructed her. Thinking of the boy brought even more tears to her eyes, making her cry all the harder. She passed a giant snakeskin and heard shifting rocks up ahead, where it looked like there was a cave in.

"Ron..?" she tried to call, but her throat was too tight, and her voice came out as barely a whisper. As she continued slowly forward she cleared her throat to try again.

"Harry?" she heard the hopeful voice of her brother call. As he poked his head over the rocks to the hole he cleared away, his eyes widened, "Ginny?" he asked, his smile disappearing as he saw his sister's state, "Where's Harry?"

That was all it took, and Ginny finally collapsed, her whole body shaking as she cried. Ron Ran over and hesitantly patted her back, "Ginny?"

"H-he… he d-died…" Ginny managed to choke out as she grabbed one of Ron's arms and hung on tightly, needing something solid to hold onto.

Ron stared at her in shock as he digested what she said, finally, weakly, he asked, "How..?"

Ginny didn't answer as she broke down completely, the realization that "The Boy Who Lived," Harry Potter, the only person who survived the killing curse, died to save her.

* * *

Bright golden light filled the room as he lay down, not wanting to get up. He couldn't remember what happened or how much time passed, but he didn't want to think about it; it was peaceful here now, and he felt very tired. He decided that if this was death, it wasn't too bad. Gently, from somewhere above him, he heard a phoenix song gently begin. '_Fawkes?_' he wondered groggily as he felt a pleasant warmth surround his body, the song warming him from the inside out, seemingly calling him back to consciousness. Blearily opening his eyes, memories came flooding back to the boy. He quickly grabbed his right arm, surprised to find no pain. Sitting up, Harry looked around the chamber.

The chamber was lit up by the torches and by a golden glow that was coming from somewhere near him. Looking down at his arm, Harry gasped as he realized that the wound was gone and that the glow was coming from himself. Glancing up at the ceiling, Harry saw a phoenix flying in lazy circles directly above him, also glowing gold.

"Wha..?" Harry asked, voice cracking. Seemingly upon hearing him, the phoenix began circling lower until it landed directly in front of him, the beautiful song ending. Upon seeing the bird closer, Harry realized something, "You're not Fawkes…"

The beautiful scarlet and golden bird crooned softly, as if in agreement, before looking deep inside Harry's eyes. Harry felt as if the bird was staring into his very soul, and felt like he couldn't look away, but, he also didn't want to. Harry sat there for a few moments before the bird jumped unto his knee and called softly, as if to say '_let's go_' before jumping deftly onto Harry's shoulder.

"Okay, girl," Harry said, knowing it was a she, but not knowing how as he softly stroked the phoenix, who again crooned lowly. Harry first walked back and picked up the sorting hat, fang and diary and pocketed them before sliding the sword down his belt on his left side and picked up his wand from where it fell when Tom died. As they made their way up the chamber, Harry felt that he had a strange connection to the beautiful bird, even though they had only just been together for a few minutes. Turning to the phoenix, Harry asked, "What should I call you, girl?" The phoenix called softly again, this time seeming do say '_I don't care_.' Harry smiled as he seemed to understand exactly what the bird was saying. Thinking deeply, Harry wondered what a good name for her would be. Glancing back at the bird and still seeing the golden aura burning gently around them both, Harry smiled as the thought of a perfect name came to him. "How about I call you Aura?"

The phoenix trilled in agreement and took off, flying around Harry again, singing a song that caused joy to well up inside of Harry. Still smiling widely, he watched as Aura flew through the smaller passageway at the end of the chamber and he followed her out quickly before looking back.

"_Close,_" Harry hissed as he turned back and began walking forward again. Aura landed on his shoulder as her song drew to a close. "That was beautiful, girl," Harry praised as he felt the warm weight of the phoenix on his shoulder. Continuing forward, Harry saw the snake husk ahead. "Almost there."

* * *

After what seemed like hours, Ginny finally calmed down some. She was still sad, but she used Ron's strength to get up and move. Seeing Ron's state, she was again reminded of Harry and felt a burning in her eyes, but had cried herself dry long ago as Ron stood with her.

"L-let's go, we have to g-get h-help for…" Ginny struggled to get out, but she couldn't say his name; it was still too painful to even think about.

Ron nodded solemnly, his face dry, but there were unmistakable tear tracks, small semi-clean rivulets, running down his grimy and dusty face. Ginny held her brother's hand as he helped her up and over the unstable rocks and to the other side of the cave-in. Upon reaching the other side, the two saw Professor Lockhart on the ground. Shaking him, the man's eyes sprung open.

"Oh, hello. Who are you?" He asked as he sat up, "And who am I?"

"I'm Ron, and this is my sister Ginny." Ron said blandly, giving Ginny a look as if to say _later_, "Come on, get up."

Ron led Ginny over to the tunnel where they slid down. Looking back up it, Ron frowned, "It looks too steep and slippery to climb up… I wonder how anything got back up again…" Ron looked next to him and noticed Ginny shuffling uncomfortably, "Do you know?"

"N-no…" Ginny whispered. She hadn't told Ron anything yet and she didn't want to tell him or anyone else what really happened. All the same, she tried to recall how she left the chamber, but couldn't.

Ginny watched as Ron turned fully around towards Lockhart, "I don't suppose you know a way to get up?" Turning herself, Ginny saw Lockhart pause.

"Up from where?" He asked, looking around. Ron shook his head.

"He's hopeless. But what are we going to do now?" Ron wondered out loud.

"Hopeless?" Lockhart seemed to ask himself, but was ignored by the other two.

"We can try yelling up?" Ginny asked, looking up the tunnel in the wall.

"Ginny? Do you have your wand?" Ron asked as she climbed in a bit more to get a batter look.

"No, why?" she asked turning around to look at her brother.

"Something's coming, look! Ron said, pulling out his spellotaped wand and pointing it at the hole in the cave he made, hoping that it wouldn't backfire if he used it. Ginny and Lockhart both looked at the hole, tensing as the golden light got brighter.

"Who's there?" Ron called, trying to keep his voice steady.

After a moment of silence, they heard a familiar voice call out, "Harry." At that, Ginny again began sobbing, thinking he had turned into a ghost because of the light. Seconds later, a familiar face with black unruly hair popped out from behind the rocks.

"Ron? Ginny?"

Ginny forced herself to look up, her heart jumping as she saw him real and alive, not dead and ghostly silver as she was expecting. '_Harry!_'

* * *

"Ron? Ginny?" Harry asked as he began climbing to the other side, Aura following shortly after and perching on his shoulder again. When he reached the ground, he looked up only to be knocked over by Ginny running into him and hugging him, crying in relief. Harry fell back as Aura flew off, making an indignant cry at the red-headed girl. Ron followed shortly after, staring at Harry.

"Ginny said you d-died!" Ron said, gaping at him, "Hey, what's with the glow, mate?"

"I don't know… And I think Ginny was right," Harry said as he returned the hug, but his words only caused the girl to hug him tighter and cry harder, "I… I remember telling her to go and find you, then darkness… but I woke up healed, with Aura flying around me."

"Aura?" Ron asked.

"Here girl!" Harry called and Aura landed on his shoulder again moments later. "This is Aura."

"Whoa! Where'd you get a phoenix?" Ron asked, gaping at the bird who began singing a soothing melody to calm down Ginny, right as Harry wished he could calm her himself, gently rubbing her back.

"I don't know… I just woke up and she was there." Harry said, unconsciously raising a hand from around Ginny to stroke Aura as she sung. Ginny finally calmed down and looked at Harry though tear-filled eyes.

"Thank you… for saving me," Ginny said, hugging Harry tightly again before letting go. Harry stood and offered a hand to Ginny who gratefully took it, "And sorry for knocking you down."

Harry smiled his forgiveness and turned to Ron, "Find a way up?"

"No mate, the tunnel's too steep and slick to climb."

Harry turned to Aura, "Do you think you can fly up there with us?" Aura cried a soft '_no,_' after looking at the tunnel. Harry was about to tell them that when Aura called softly again.

"Aura says to hold onto me," Harry said. Ginny grabbed a fistful of clothes nervously, but Harry pulled her to him, making her encircle her arms around him. "C'mon, Ron, Lockhart."

"So I'm Lockhart?" the professor asked as Ron grabbed the front of his robes and pulled him to the group. '_I thought I was Hopeless._'

Ron grabbed around Harry and Ginny then Lockhart around the Weasley's and Harry looked at Aura expectantly. Trilling in excitement, Aura hovered above Harry and lowered her tail. Suddenly, just knowing what to do, Harry raised both hands and clapped them around Aura's tail feathers. In a burst of fire, they were standing above the chamber entrance in the girl's lavatory. Harry let go and Aura trilled happily again before flying back down onto his shoulder. The others broke off and Harry turned to face the entrance, looking at a snake carved into the side of the washbasin and hissed "_Close,_" sealing the Chamber of Secrets, hopefully for good. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Ginny's eyes open wide as she shuddered.

"Ginny?" Harry asked, but she merely shook her head. "Alright then, let's go," he said, turning and leading the others away.

* * *

As they walked to the hospital wing, Harry noticed that the golden aura surrounding him and Aura was slowly dissipating. Shortly after it was gone entirely, Aura gave a soft cry, saying that she was going. Harry nodded, and Aura took flight before disappearing in flames. After finally reaching the hospital wing and explaining what happened to a gobsmacked Madam Pomfrey, the healer quickly placed Harry and Ginny in clean hospital beds after casting a quick cleansing charm and giving them fresh hospital gowns. She then told Ron to run to get Professor McGonagall after discovering Lockhart lost his memory.

While waiting for the professor, Harry turned to Ginny, who seemed to be crying again. "Ginny? What's wrong?" Harry asked, even though he knew it was a stupid question after all that happened. Harry couldn't help it though; he wanted to help comfort her. Ginny just shook her head again and sunk deeper into the pillows. Getting up, Harry walked across the small space in between their beds and sat on the side of hers, "Ginny?"

The girl opened her eyes and looked at Harry for a moment before sitting up and hugging him again. Harry rubbed her back uncertainly as she cried silently into his shoulder. As she calmed down, she took a deep breath as if to speak when the hospital doors flew open and Professor Dumbledore, Professor McGonagall and Ron burst into the room. Releasing each other quickly, Harry stood as they finally spotted the two. Walking over, Harry saw Dumbledore's eyes twinkling.

"Mr. Weasley has informed us that you have found Miss Weasley?" looking down, he spotted Ginny lying down in bed. "Then I believe that we have much to discuss. Poppy?" Dumbledore turned to the healer, "Can they..?" he asked, gesturing back to the beds.

Madam Pomfrey nodded as she fussed about, picking up two potions, "After they drink these."

After getting changed into new school robes brought to them by house elves and downing the potions, they all walked to Dumbledore's office where Mr. and Mrs. Weasley were waiting.

"Ginny!" Mrs. Weasley cried when her daughter walked in, and a second later she was engulfed in a hug by both her parents. As they settled down, Harry told the story of what happened in the chamber, and Ginny continued after he said that he blacked out and died.

"Died? No spell can bring people back to life. Albus? How is this possible?" Professor McGonagall asked, interrupting Ginny. Dumbledore simply gazed at Harry questioningly.

"I-I'm not entirely sure, sir." Harry responded slowly, everyone's eyes on him, "But I think I was saved from death more than brought back to life."

"How?" Dumbledore asked calmly, still looking Harry in the eyes.

"Aura?" Harry called softly, looking to his right. Seconds later he was greeted by a flash of fire as Aura appeared and landed on Harry's shoulder, crooning softly as Harry began stroking her head. Fawkes called out and moved over on her perch and Aura flew over to join the other phoenix. With them standing side by side, Harry was surprised he had ever mixed the two of them up. While both phoenixes, Aura's feathers were larger and looked softer, and the golden feathers on her tail were more numerous than Fawkes's. Looking over, he found everyone but Ginny and Ron staring at him like he grew a second head, even Dumbledore looked astounded. Getting nervous, Harry asked, "What?"

Dumbledore recovered first, a large, genuine smile growing on his face as his eyes twinkled madly. "Harry, phoenixes are very rare and special birds. One must show great strength, moral fiber and be pure of heart, above and beyond what is considered normal to attract one. I myself had lived for over 100 years before Fawkes joined me. To attract one so early in life is unheard of. Miss Weasley is very lucky to have been championed by you, if your thoughts were pure enough to attract a phoenix." Dumbledore bowed his head to Harry before continuing, "Phoenixes are also immensely loyal to their owner, and for that I must thank you, Harry, for you must have shown me real loyalty down there, to have called Fawkes to you as well."

At the end of this speech, Mrs. Weasley was in tears and hugging Harry tightly while Mr. Weasley beamed at him. Ginny looked down at her hands which rested in her lap. '_I don't deserve him or his kindness, after what I've done…_' she thought sadly, forcing herself to hold in her tears. As the meeting moved on, Ginny forced herself to keep a neutral face as Harry described his "resurrection" and how they all escaped the Chamber of Secrets.

"If that is all," Professor Dumbledore said, standing, just as the door to the office burst open.

"So it's true. You have returned to Hogwarts." Lucius Malfoy said striding into the headmaster's office…

* * *

"Good one Harry!" Ron laughed as Harry told them about freeing Dobby the next day. Harry had left the others quickly after Lucius left, while Mrs. Weasley and the others stayed to talk to Ginny. Since it was already dark when Harry and the others left the chamber, Harry decided to go to bed after waiting up for over an hour, explaining what happened in the chamber to his housemates. "Alright, let's go down to breakfast."

"Sorry Ron, I already went. You go ahead, I have some things to catch up on," Harry said.

"Alright mate, suit yourself," they both grinned before Ron walked off, leaving the semi-crowded common room for breakfast. After the portrait closed, Harry stood up and walked over to the figure working solitarily in the corner.

Pulling up a seat, Harry sat next to her, causing the girl to start in surprise. "H-Harry?"

"Hey Ginny. I just wanted to ask if you are alright," Harry said, looking into the girl's eyes.

"Y-Yeah… W-why wouldn't I be okay?" Ginny asked, shifting slightly in her seat.

"Well, there are plenty of people in the common room… Why don't you join someone?" Harry asked with a smile.

"Th-that's okay… I'm kind of busy doing charms homework…" She trailed off and looked down, but didn't continue working.

"Ginny?" Harry asked. When she didn't look up, he prompted her again, leaning his head down a bit, "Ginny?" Finally looking up at him, Harry continued, "Do you want to talk?"

At that, Ginny's eyes began watering as she began to cry quietly again. Scooting over, Harry awkwardly wrapped an arm around her shoulder like he saw Mr. Weasley do the night before, and she turned, clinging to him like a lifeline. Confused as to why she was acting this way, Harry asked, "Ginny?"

"I-it's just… when I came here I was scared… I sat with Fred and George at the opening feast and never really talked to the other girls my age… I guess that's one of the problems with only having brothers," Ginny hiccupped as tears continued to fall. "The other girls kind of clicked and I was left out, and they teased me because of my clothes and hair… These used to be some of my brother's and mother's old things…" At that she broke down again and Harry rubbed her back gently. Ginny gripped tighter and continued to cry. When she calmed down a bit, she pulled back slightly to look in his eyes, still in his arms, before she looked down again and spoke. "I-I'm sorry, Harry… I didn't mean to bother you… it's just…" she shook her head in its place against his chest as he pulled her back to look at her.

"I don't mind Ginny. I'm glad that you talked to me… I'm sorry about what happened with the others. Why don't you hang out with me, Ron and Hermione? I don't mind, I'm sure the others won't," Harry suggested with a slight smile.

Ginny turned to Harry, a look of shock on her face "Y-you wouldn't mind?" she asked softly. "Really?"

"No," Harry said, grin widening as she pulled back to him and hugged him. Harry returned the gesture before dragging her to a table to help her with charms homework. Even though they had canceled exams, most teachers have still assigned homework to the students instead. As they worked together on her homework, they also talked about other things. By the time Ron came back two hours later after having eaten half the hall's worth or food, Ginny was totally relaxed and openly laughing at jokes, something Ron hadn't seen her do since the start of school. Smiling at his best mate, Ron left to visit Hermione and see how much longer it will take to make the revival potion.

* * *

The last day of class, Harry got up out of bed late. Even though he usually got up earlier than the others, he decided to sleep in since Ginny usually didn't get up quite as early since her classes started later than his. Today though, there were no classes except for those taking the mandatory O.W.L.'s and N.E.W.T.'s.

Getting ready, Harry waited in the common room for Ginny, Ron and Hermione. They had taken to going to meals together whenever able. Hermione, the early riser had gotten up first. As they talked by the fire about school and the classes for next year, Ginny came down to join them, followed almost an hour later by Ron. Walking down to breakfast together, they sat at their usual spots, Harry and Ron on one side, Hermione and Ginny on the other, when something unusual happened. As Harry glanced up at the head table, he noticed Dumbledore eyeing him. When he turned around fully, Dumbledore waved him up.

Walking to the head table, Harry was relieved that there were not many people in the hall. Those that were in the hall, however, stared at him as he made his way to the back of the hall. Upon reaching the head table, Harry walked up to Dumbledore.

"Ahh, Harry. I wanted to speak to you about this summer," Dumbledore said.

Immediately Harry felt excited, '_Maybe he'll say I can stay at the Weasley's this summer instead of Privet Drive!_'

Dumbledore smiled ruefully at the look on Harry's face, "No, I'm sorry, but you must return to your own home. I just wanted to warn you about Aura. While use of her teleportation by you will not be seen as breaking the rules on the decree against underage wizardry, I must advise against such travel. While muggles cannot see phoenixes, they can still hear them and see them fire travel. To use it recklessly is to invite disaster, and should you be caught by a muggle, the consequences, most severe."

Harry nodded, showing that he heard. In a forced neutral voice, Harry said, "If that is all, sir?" At Dumbledore's nod, Harry turned and walked back to his friends.

"What was that all about?" Hermione asked when he sat down.

"Dumbledore wanted to warn me about Aura," Harry explained. Since the chamber of secrets, Aura has taken to standing on Harry's bedpost or in the rafters of whatever class he is in. Aura even stood guard on Harry's desk in History of Magic class, not that Professor Binns ever noticed. "He said that I would have to be careful about fire traveling and phoenix songs."

"How are you going to do that? You're going to live in the muggle world for months!" Ron said, looking above to see Aura perched up inside the enchanted sky of the Great Hall.

"Well, me and Aura can sort of communicate with each other, like I can understand what's she's saying sometimes," Harry said, "So I'm going to have to try to ask her to hide away or be quiet around the Dursley's this summer."

* * *

By the end of the term, Harry and Ginny had become good friends. Ron didn't particularly like her hanging around but Hermione didn't seem mind. Even so, she didn't take to her as easily as Harry because she was a younger year. It's not that that mattered, but she couldn't seem to connect as readily as Harry did, though she did enjoy the girl talk they had on occasion. Ron, thankfully, kept his opposition to Ginny quiet for the most part, probably figuring once classes started next year, they wouldn't see much of her.

At the end of the year feast, Dumbledore congratulated Gryffindor on winning the house cup for a second year. '_Not that we needed all the extra points we received for defeating the basilisk,_' Harry thought wryly as he boarded the train.

They all headed back to the end of the train where Harry and Ron sat facing Ginny and Hermione. Halfway through the ride, they were enjoying a game of exploding snap when the compartment door burst open.

"Malfoy!" Ron breathed, standing and drawing his spellotaped wand as the others tensed and reached for their own wands. Malfoy, along with the ever-present Crabbe and Goyle, merely leered and looked at Harry.

"You'd better watch yourself, Potter," was all he said before looking to the far corner for a few seconds before slamming the compartment door.

"That was weird," Ron said, pocketing his wand. He turned around, "Why did he look at you, though?" he asked his sister. Ginny shrugged, though she looked slightly troubled. Harry filed it away as a reminder of Slytherin and what had happened at the chamber.

The train ride was relatively peaceful the rest of the way, and all too soon, they felt the train stopping as they reached Platform Nine and Three Quarters. As they exited the station, the friends turned to each other. After saying his goodbyes to Ron and hugging Hermione, Harry turned to Ginny.

"I guess this is it until next year," Harry said with a slight frown.

"Yeah," Ginny agreed. "We'll invite you over as soon as we can though!" she promised. They didn't really know what to say after that, though. Since that day after saving her, they had become good friends and never really thought of how break would turn out.

"Owl me?" Harry asked, giving Ginny a half-smile as they heard Mrs. Weasley shouting in the distance.

"Definitely," Ginny grinned back before stepping forward and giving Harry a quick hug. "See you next year!"

Harry waved as he watched the Weasleys walked out of the station before turning to see his uncle waiting for him.

'_Welcome home, Harry…_'

* * *

A/N: A bit shorter than I wanted, but I covered what I planned. The end seems a bit rushed, but there's really nothing that happens after exams in the second book, and I wanted to mostly stick with the cannon. Next chapter ought to be interesting; drop a review if you have any ideas you'd like to see. If they fit and I like them, they might even be added to my story. Also, reviews, like copious amounts of tea, are beneficial to my writing.


	2. Dementors of Azkaban

Disclaimer: I do not assume to own Harry Potter. I only assume rights to the order of the words and to any new ideas I add and create.

A/N: I have decided to use the movies in some portions to expedite what I want to get across. If I was not a stickler for having a "whole" story, I would only write the parts I wanted (like the phoenix scene) and leave it like that. Luckily, I am said stickler.

In the interest of allowing those who want to read the story right off the bat, all future author notes will be relegated to the end of the chapters, aside from the mandatory disclaimer or unless I have something important.

A/N: "Mucosa Volatis" is borrowed from the author S'TarKan as the Bat-Bogey Hex. Since first reading it, I have grown quite fond of it, preferring it to all other variants of said hex.

With that, enjoy:

* * *

_A beautiful scarlet and gold bird sat on her perch on a mountain in a land far away from people, waiting. Her friend had left the perch many years ago, the pure thoughts of another having summoned him from her home. She began preening herself as she sat in the foggy heights, thinking that she'd like to be someplace sunny. Picturing the place in her mind, she trilled in excitement as she felt the familiar rush of fire around her as she arrived in the land of sand. The people here had built giant stone triangles a long time ago, a few of her cycles ago._

_She enjoyed traveling by fire. It was always comforting, being surrounded by her element, almost as much as being in the sun comforted her. Flying in a circle high above one of the many stone triangles, she thought back many days to when she had met a friend in a different desert. Her friend was gone now, probably through the acts of wizards, as they mistrusted the fire-breathers. She remembered back to when she had met her friend and trilled in rememberance._

_She had flown from her perch one day to explore the lands to the south. It was when she was perched on a mountainside by a lake that the dragon that had flown by and landed near the base of the mountains. When she landed in front of the dragon, it seemed surprised and bowed its head gently; most fire creatures knew and respected her kind. She trilled and flew with it for many days until she decided to return to the land of sand. She remembered the parting stream of fire the dragon had shot at her, the pleasant warmth almost the same as when she traveled by fire._

_It had been around three years ago, according to her friend, who now lived with a wizard and had visited her once in a great many days. She did not care to pay too much attention to all of the lessons he had taught her of human customs though; there was rarely even one person in so many centuries that was pure enough to have a pull on her kind; even fewer whose thoughts called to them. To be a good person was one thing, but to be completely earnest and pure of thought, even for a moment, was a state that very few reached._

_Basking in the warmth of the sun, she closed her eyes, enjoying the warm breeze as she floated in the sky. '_Help! Help! I need to fight this thing so I can save Ginny!_' The phoenix's eyes flashed open as a surge of magic rushed through her, calling to her…_

* * *

_After saying his goodbyes to Ron and hugging Hermione, Harry turned to Ginny._

"_I guess this is it until next year," Harry said with a slight frown._

"_Yeah," Ginny agreed. "We'll invite you over as soon as we can though!" she promised. They didn't really know what to say after that, though. Since that day after saving her, they had become good friends and never really thought of how break would turn out._

"_Owl me?" Harry asked, giving Ginny a half-smile as they heard Mrs. Weasley shouting in the distance._

"_Definitely," Ginny grinned back before stepping forward and giving Harry a quick hug. "See you next year!"_

_Harry waved as he watched the Weasleys walked out of the station before turning to see his uncle waiting for him._

'Welcome home, Harry…_'_

* * *

Dear Harry,

I'm so excited! Our family won the Daily Prophet Grand Prize Galleon Draw! We had a family meeting the other night and decided to take a trip to Egypt to visit my older brother Bill. He works as a curse-breaker for Gringotts there. I wish you could come with us!

_Harry smiled as he read the rest of the letter. He couldn't think of a family more deserving to win several hundred galleons than the Weasleys. She mentioned off-handedly that Ron was going to get a replacement wand and that the rest of the galleons were going to be saved for other things like emergencies down the road. Harry sighed._

'She never complains, even though I know she wants new dress robes and books sometimes._' Harry frowned when he remembered her face when Lucius Malfoy had brought up the condition of her tattered second-hand books. Before he just saw her stony face though, he remembered how her eyes looked, recalling that same look when she told him about the other girls teasing her. '_She was always self-conscious about being poor, even though she acts like she doesn't care in front of everyone else,_' he thought. He would have given the Weasleys half his vault if they wouldn't have taken it as an insult._

_Shaking his head of those thoughts, he heard Aura begin to trill a quiet song, one low enough that Harry knew wouldn't be heard by the Dursleys. As she sang, Harry felt the sadness leave him slowly while he finished reading._

…Mom said that we are most likely going to be gone until a day or two before the Express leaves, so we aren't going to be able to have you over this summer. I know it's only been a few weeks, but I can't wait to go back to Hogwarts. Write me soon!

Your friend,

Ginny

_Harry was definitely looking forward to going back to Hogwarts this year. Folding the letter carefully and placing it securely in his trunk, Harry dug out a quill, ink and parchment and began composing his reply._

* * *

Harry Potter and the Flight of the Phoenix

Book Three, Chapter One – Dementors of Azkaban

* * *

Harry smiled as he stroked Hedwig's soft snowy white feathers while he gazed out of the window at London. He had been staying at the Leaky Cauldron for a while now, ever since he blew up his Aunt. Sifting through the small pile of letters from Ginny that he brought with him, he spotted one addressed from the Weasleys that had arrived yesterday. Looking at the letters brought a smile to his face. Ron wasn't much of a letter writer, even though he always promises to send them, and while Hermione send quite a few, they always managed to somehow mention school or some form of revising. Harry knew his friend's quirks and expected them, which left Ginny.

He had gotten to know her pretty well last year, but even so, the amount she wrote in each letter surprised him. Ever since the first one, each new letter seemed like a small novel, letting him imagine that he was actually there, talking to her in Egypt. What surprised him more, was the fact that he, despite usually being only marginally better than Ron usually, was writing just as much back if not more. There hadn't been much happening at Privet Drive, so he told her stories of the few good times he could remember there and other stories of things at Hogwarts. It just seemed to come naturally, whether he was talking to her or writing and reading her letters after a long day of doing chores at the Dursleys. It always managed to calm him down and put him in a better mood.

Thinking back, Harry frowned at his short stay with the Dursleys. He hadn't done anything, but he was still hounded and treated badly. When Marge—he refused to think of her as his Aunt —came over and began insulting his parents, he had it. His anger triggered his accidental magic and blew her up. After that, he was still so angry that he forgot about calling Aura and went on a walk to cool his head, eventually ending up on the Knight Bus. While not as fast as fire-traveling would have been, the bus had intrigued Harry and the ride had helped calm him for when he finally reached the Leaky Cauldron. After meeting with the Minister of Magic, it was decided that he was to live here until the school term started. Harry would have preferred the Weasley's house, but they were off in Egypt, according to their last letter send only two days ago, and would be back either today or early tomorrow.

Harry smiled at the two photos on his nightstand and picked them up. One was of the entire family waving, the picture having been one of the originals that were printed in the Daily Prophet, and the other was of a small girl, smiling lightly as she stood nearby a sleeping sphinx in what appeared to be a chamber of a pyramid.

A few days after he had settled into his routine at the Leakey Cauldron, Aura had begun to complain about being cooped up all of the time. Deciding that even if he was stuck Aura shouldn't be, he sent her over to keep Ginny and Ron company. Aura didn't seem to care much for their small room in the Leaky Cauldron, and no birds were allowed in the common areas, though he hoped there wouldn't be a problem with the Weasleys. '_Besides, phoenixes are native to Egypt._' He thought, replacing the photos.

Since he had been lodged at the Leaky Cauldron, Harry had been exploring Diagon Alley by day and studying his texts and finishing his essays by night. Harry was surprised by how easily he finished his work and, in a fit of boredom, learned the new third year spells. He had no idea why, but he had already tried a few of the spells (The magical activity in the alley prevented his own attempts from being tracked) and was surprised that he had been able to cast several of the charms without difficulty. Because of this, he even bought next year's _The Standard Book of Spells Grade Four_ amongst others and began looking through those as well. No matter how easy the spells were, however, the calculations, tables and motions for Arithmancy were not the same. Harry would have tried to read up on Care of Magical Creatures, but the one time he opened his book was the last time he tried, at least until he learned how to get it to stop snapping at him.

Harry smiled. Halfway through his Leaky Cauldron break, he received his letter asking what additional classes he was going to take. Sending letters to Hermione and Ron asking what classes they thought he should take, he got three letters back with advice. Hermione of course, said she wanted to take all of them, all of them looking interesting. Ron said he was taking Care of Magical Creatures and Divination, because his brothers said they were the easiest and had the least work. The third letter was from Ginny. He hadn't asked her, though she had snuck a peek at the class listings and descriptions after Ron had mentioned choosing classes and told him what classes she thought were interesting in her letter.

…_I think that you should take Arithmancy and Care of Magical Creatures. In higher level Arithmancy, I've heard from my brother Bill you can learn how to set up wards and even change spells to do different things based on wand movements. I think Care of Magical Creatures would be interesting too because of all the different animals you'd get to see and work with. At least, those are the classes I'm going to take next year…_

After that, Harry took all of five seconds to decide and mail off his options, especially after reading the last part of the section.

…_and if we take the same classes you can help me and we can revise together._

Harry didn't know why, but the time he spent with Ginny last year had been some of the happiest times he could remember. It wasn't that he wasn't happy with Ron and Hermione, but with Ginny, he felt like he could relax and just be. Harry shook his head at the thought and he set the pictures back down. '_It'll just be a reason to see each other outside of classes later on,_' he mused.

Suddenly, Harry heard a racket outside and saw a rat being chased down the hallway by a squashed-faced cat. Deciding then to go downstairs for supper, Harry followed the familiar-looking rat down the stairs. When he reached the landing, a ball of fire burst in front of him, emitting Aura, who sang a happy tune as she perched on his shoulder. At the same time, she heard a girl's startled cry of "Aura?" Grinning and petting the phoenix, Harry hurried down the rest of the stairs, his grin widening as he finally saw the closest thing to what he considered as his first real family. "Harry!"

Aura took off and flamed away as Harry was charged by Hermione, Ron and Ginny, who nearly bowled him over then strangled him as they hugged him.

"It's so good to see you!" Hermione said, the first one to hug him.

"Yeah, Ginny wouldn't shut up about you all summer," Ron said, repeating what he had said last summer with a grin, "Bit annoying, really. Ow!" Ron cried out when Ginny, now blushing tomato red, kicked him in the shins. After breaking up, he was again encompassed by Mrs. Weasley's bone-crushing hug as she thanked him.

"Why are you thanking me?" Harry asked quietly when he was let go and Mr. Weasley stepped forward, shaking his hand. "I haven't done anything."

"That's twice you saved my daughter, Harry. We are all grateful." Harry continued to look around in confusion as his eyes landed on Ginny.

Ginny blushed and looked down, "Remember that picture of me and the sphinx?" Harry nodded, "Well, the flash woke it up, and it wasn't very happy that we invaded its chamber. It was about to attack when Aura suddenly flamed over and flamed me away. If you hadn't sent Aura, I would probably be in St. Mungo's," she finished quietly.

"Come now, Harry, time for dinner." Mrs. Weasley said, effectively breaking the somber mood that had fallen. Ron rushed over to the table at the mention of food and Harry followed after giving Ginny a quick hug, causing her blush to deepen.

'_I'll have to remember to thank Aura,_' Harry thought as he sat down with his friends to discuss what happened this summer and what was to come for the new school year.

After dinner, Harry was going to bring Ron Hermione and Ginny to his room to play games for the reminder of the night when he was pulled aside by Mr. Weasley. "Harry? If I might have a word?" Harry nodded and followed Mr. Weasley into an alcove by the stairs. "Harry, there are some at the ministry who would not want me to tell you this, but you are in danger."

"Is this about Sirius Black, sir?" Harry asked, having seen all of the posters around Diagon Alley and the Leaky Cauldron.

"What do you know of Sirius Black?"

Harry thought back to what Stan Shunpike, the conductor of the Knight Bus, had said, "I know he was a supporter of Voldemort,"

"Don't say his name," Mr. Weasley flinched before continuing, "Do you know why he escaped?" Upon seeing Harry's blank face, he continued, "He thinks that if he can kill you, You-Know-Who can come back to power."

* * *

The following day passed in a happy daze for Harry, after the initial gloom of explaining what happened to Marge and what Mr. Weasley said the night before. He was able to take his mind off of everything as he visited the now familiar shops with his friends and they talked about random things. With Aura back, he also felt a lot calmer than he had when he had been alone. While Aura was not with him all of the time during the day, she always flamed by when he felt alone and managed to cheer him up. While he appreciated the company, he was a little worried that something was not right with her. Harry would often wake up during the summer and again last night, to find Aura singing quietly while flying in tight circles over his bed. He also noticed a slight glow around his body like the one that had initially covered him after the chamber of secrets. When he asked Aura, however, she merely offered a reassuring cry, saying that he should not worry. However, after waking up, he was always restless, and unable to fall completely back to sleep.

It was this thought that Harry pondered as he and his friends ate their snacks and spoke quietly in their shared compartment with one Mr. R. J. Lupin, who was fast asleep. Looking across the booth at the man in question, Harry's eyes slid to the right and locked onto Ginny, who gave him a small smile that he returned before Hermione again grabbed his attention with a question.

Ginny frowned before quickly composing her face again. '_Stop it Ginny, he only wants to be your friend. It's not like he'll ever see you as anything more than Ron's sister._' Ginny watched as Harry and Hermione talked, '_Why would he want you anyway? You're not pretty, you aren't mature like some of the other girls, you don't have any decent clothes and you're not even smart like Hermione. You're nothing._' A voice in the back of her head said. She didn't know what made her hate herself more, the fact that the little voice was her own, or that she agreed with it.

Moments later, the train jerked to a stop and the lights went out, stopping all further conversation as everyone looked out the window at the squall outside.

"Why have we stopped?" Harry asked as he stared out at the pounding rain, now the only source of noise in the compartment.

"I don't know, we can't be there yet," Hermione answered as she searched outside from some reason as to why they stopped.

"There's something moving out there…"

"Don't be a coward Ron, it's just your imagination." Ginny laughed lightly at her brother as she stepped to look outside the window, but her laughter died in her throat as the windows began frosting over. Outside, cloaked figures in black could just be made out from the downpour, flying around the express, circling closer as the compartments temperature suddenly dropped.

Harry looked around at his friends and pulled out his wand. He wasn't sure what was happening or what he could do to protect them, but he'd be damned if he didn't at least try. Just then, the latch on the door to the compartment clicked, drawing everyone's attention to a dark figure outside the frosted glass on the door. Harry moved to stand in between the figure and everyone else with wand raised as the door slowly slid open.

"_Trying to resist me? You stupid girl._" Ginny whimpered quietly as the voice of Tom filled her mind. "_You even tried to tell your brother. You haven't even any friends; you are truly pathetic._" Before her eyes, she saw herself painting 'Her skeleton will lie in the chamber forever' on the second corridor wall beneath the first message. "_Now because of your stupidity, Harry will die._" Before her, Ginny saw Harry collapse to the compartment floor before following herself shortly thereafter.

'_Harry!_'

* * *

Hermione watched as Harry and then Ginny collapsed as scathing remarks from her school teachers and classmates filled her mind. Fighting against them, she saw Aura flame into the compartment, landing on Harry's chest, crying out and flapping her wings as if to beat back the creature. The phoenix song seeming to drive off some of the voices from her mind as it calmed her slightly. The hooded creature stalled in the doorway however, not advancing but not retreating either. Instead, it seemed to breath harder, as more of the creatures gathered at the door.

"_Expecto Patronum!_" Hermione looked back quickly to see a ball of white light fly past her from Mr. R. J. Lupin's wand. Turning again, she watched as the ball hit the hooded creature and drove it and the others back from the door. As they left the compartment, warmth seemed to return and the voices left her head. "Wait here!" The man yelled quickly as he stepped outside after the creatures and ball of light.

Hermione turned back to the compartment, "Ron, are you alright?" she asked, noticing he was a bit pale.

"Y-yeah… What was that thing?" he asked, "I felt like I'd never be cheerful again…"

"Those were dementors," Mr. Lupin said as he walked back into the compartment. "_Mobilicorpus!_" he intoned, pointing his wand at Ginny and floating her to one side of the compartment, leaving just enough room for someone else to sit down. Turning to Harry, she watched as he paused, eyes widening upon seeing Aura, who had stopped crying out once Mr. Lupin cast the charm.

As if sensing that Lupin was no harm and that he was going to move and help Harry, Aura gave a soft call and took off before perching gently by Ginny's head. "_Mobilicorpus!_" After floating Harry on the seat across from Ginny, Mr. Lupin motioned the other two to sit, pulling out three rather large bars of chocolate from his pocket.

* * *

Harry's eyes snapped open and he looked to the side quickly, seeing Ginny laying down across from him. "Ginny?" Looking over he saw Aura perched on his shoulder, "Hey girl." Aura trilled lightly in response before taking flight and flaming away again. Harry knew she was only a call away should he want her, though.

"Harry! Are you okay?" Harry turned to see Hermione sitting down by his head. He sat up as she handed him a bar of chocolate, "Here, Professor Lupin said to eat this."

"I'm fine," Harry said as he took the bar, "Who screamed?" he asked as he slowly unwrapped the bar. Eyes traveling back to the redhead lying down besides her brother, he asked, "Is Ginny alright?"

"Nobody screamed, and she's fine, just fainted." Harry nodded and took a bit of chocolate, surprised at how cold he actually was as warmth suddenly seemed to envelop him.

"What was that thing?" Harry asked as he took another larger bite of chocolate.

"That was a dementor, one of the guards of Azkaban." Lupin said as he returned. "Now, hurry and get changed. We'll be arriving soon. Oh, and give this to her when she wakes up," he said, gesturing to Ginny and giving Harry the chocolate.

"So did any of you two… you know, pass out?" Harry asked as he slipped on his robes over his muggle clothes.

"No, not besides Ginny," Hermione said. Shortly after saying that, there was a groaning sound from the corner.

"Harry!" Ginny cried as she woke, looking around frantically before seeing him and settling down, "I saw you fall, what happened?"

After explaining about the dementors, the train began to slow down gradually, meaning they were soon approaching Hogsmeade station. '_That's right, I can't go to Hogsmeade this year._' Harry thought, "Uncle Vernon didn't sign my papers…"

"What?" Hermione asked as she finished putting on her robes.

"Uncle Vernon didn't sign my papers, so I can't go to Hogsmeade this year," Harry repeated. Ginny looked over at this, her face carefully neutral. Harry gave her a lopsided grin, "I guess I'm staying with you then."

Ginny broke out into a shy smile as Ron broke in, "Oh go on Harry, you can always ask Professor McGonagall to sign it. You don't have to stay with Ginny." Ron said, managing to make it sound like a death sentence.

Immediately the smile fell and she stormed out of the compartment.

"Oh, brilliant, Ron." Harry said as he glared at his friend as he stood, "Sometimes you can be a right git, you know that?" he asked before storming out to find Ginny.

"What's up with him?" Ron asked as he turned from the closing compartment door to Hermione who had her arms crossed and was also giving him a mutinous glare. "What?"

* * *

Harry followed where he thought Ginny went, his search leading him to a small group of Slytherins surrounding a compartment. As he neared, the two outside, Crabbe and Goyle, pointed their wands at him. From inside the compartment, he heard a familiar voice.

"_Mucosa Volatis!_"

Purple light from the attack hit Crabbe in the back, causing his nose to engorge before suddenly spewing out half a dozen bat-shaped bogeys that began flying around his head, knocking into him and clawing his face and eyes. From inside the room, Harry heard another sickeningly familiar voice, even as he went for his wand to attack, "_Petrificus Totalus!_"

'_Ginny!_' Harry thought as he heard a small thump inside the compartment. Harry didn't even think, raising his arm, he shouted the first spell that came to mind, "_Incarcerous!_" The ropes bound Goyle, while Crabbe swatted at the bats, trying to knock them away.

Rushing past Crabbe to the door, Harry saw Draco standing over Ginny, wand pointed out the door at him. "_Stupefy!_"

'_Protego!_' Harry tried out the shield charm he had attempted once before in Diagon Alley. Malfoy's stunner bounced off the ghostly white shield that appeared before him, striking dead center and rebounding back, successfully hitting the unsuspecting and unprepared boy. The stunner sent Malfoy to the floor, crumpling into a pile. '_Finite Incantatem!_' Harry released Ginny from her bindings.

"Are you alright?" Harry asked as she sat up, her face flitting through different expressions before settling on anger.

"I didn't need your help!" she snapped, picking up her wand brushing past him.

"Ginny," she stopped almost at the door, but didn't turn around, "I didn't mean it like that." He watched as she seemed to deflate before his eyes. "I just wanted to see if you were alright. And I honestly don't mind staying with you for Hogsmeade breaks."

"You don't have to say that for me, Harry," Ginny sighed, turning around. "Thanks. Just, don't tell my brothers about this, okay? I'm tired of them treating me like a baby. It was horrible this summer because of that."

"I really don't mind not going, Ginny," Harry frowned, "But because Ron did that, you were cornered by Mal-" Ginny cut him off.

"I don't care. Promise me, Harry." Ginny said, the train finally coming to a stop.

"Fine, I promise." Harry said, going to stick back his wand in his pocket, only to realize it was already there. '_When did I…?_' Harry tried to remember back, but Ginny successfully distracted him by giving him a quick hug before turning around again.

"Thank you." Ginny said quietly, walking out of the compartment.

* * *

It had been many days since the train incident, and classes were in full swing. Harry sat in Arithmancy next to Hermione, who seemed quite pleased that he decided to take this as opposed to Divination, though put out he didn't try Ancient Runes as well. At the same time, Ron felt betrayed, but was happy that he at least chose Care of Magical Creatures as his second subject. Harry signed as Professor Vector walked in and began class. '_Ginny still hasn't spoken to me, and I've rarely even seen her. I know she doesn't like being treated like she's helpless or just the little sister, but what was I supposed to do? I wasn't going to let Malfoy do something to her._'

"… and through mastery of these tables and numbers, you can arrive upon ways to improve spells and possibly even create new ones, in N.E.W.T. level Arithmancy." The professor finished.

Harry surprised himself when he raised his hand.

"Yes Mr.?"

"Potter, ma'am. You said, improve spells?" Harry found himself asking.

"Why yes. For example, take stupefy, like so," the professor cast the spell against the wall lightly. "When done with a different flourish, _Stupefy!_" This time, instead of the single red light shooting forth from the wand, three redish jets shot out, one in the middle while the others shot diagonally forward to either side. "However, this variant, while it can affect more targets, demands more than twice the energy to cast and is a slightly harder wand movement. There are several other variants that are possible, each with advantages and disadvantages over the standard spell. That is but a small part of Arithmancy, though, since most variants are too difficult or draining to be useful. Arithmantic calculations are also used with curse-breaking…"

'_I think Ginny was right about this one,_' Harry smiled to himself as Professor Vector listed off a few other occupations, '_Arithmancy will probably be right useful if not interesting._' Remembering the book he cracked open and the giant number tables inside dampened Harry's spirits a bit, however. '_Advantage, disadvantage, I guess._'

When the class ended, Harry made his way down to Defence with Hermione in toe, eager to see how Professor Lupin's class will be. Meeting up with Ron, Harry began explaining what happened in Arithmancy.

"Bloody Brilliant!" Ron announced, "I should have taken Arithmancy!"

"Think again, Ron," Harry said, opening his book to the assigned reading and homework. "You see this? We have to memorize these three charts and read to here by next class."

Ron paled, "Never mind."

"Good morning class!" Professor Lupin called as they entered the room and sat down, "Wands out and everyone follow me, please."

The class followed the professor to the teacher's lounge, standing them in front of the wardrobe that he and Ron hid in the year before when they learned about what happened to Ginny. Harry sighed; everything seemed to be reminding him of Ginny today.

"…me what's inside?" Harry heard the professor ask.

'_Snap out of it Harry, you need to pay attention!_' Harry thought to himself furiously, '_I can't go spacing off every time I think back to Ginny. What's wrong with me?_'

"…boggart that is."

"Very good, now, can anyone tell me what a boggart looks like?"

"Nobody knows, boggarts are shape-shifters. They take the form of whatever one fears the most."

"Very good…"

Harry went through the motions of class as he again thought. '_What do I fear the most?_' he wondered. '_Voldemort? That seems obvious, but that time on the train…_' Harry looked up at the giant jack-in-the-box that Parvati had just transformed the boggart into.

Right then, time seemed to slow down. Harry stepped forward as Professor Lupin looked up and lunged forward in front of him, the boggart briefly turned into dark, hooded figure with flowing black tattered robes before changing to a white orb, shrouded in grey.

"_Riddikulus!_" Changing into a balloon, the boggart flew around like it had a hole poked in it until the professor locked it back in the wardrobe.

Harry was only dimly aware of Professor Lupin dismissing the class and asking him to stay behind for a minute. The class complained as they filed out while Hermione and Ron waited for Harry by the door

As the last person filed out, Harry turned to the professor, "Why didn't you let me face that boggart?"

"I thought it would have been obvious, I would have thought it would change into Lord Voldemort."

"I did think of him at first, but," Harry paused, "Then I remembered the dementors. Professor, why did that one affect me like that on the train?"

"It's because you have true horrors in your past, Harry. Horrors that your classmates can scarcely comprehend." Remus looked at him with sad eyes.

"Is there any way that I can learn to drive them off?" Harry asked, thinking back to what Hermione had said about the white ball of light.

"There is one spell, but it is very advanced magic, Harry; even I have not mastered it yet." Remus frowned. "If you still wish to attempt it, meet me back here tonight after the feast."

* * *

Harry went to transfiguration with a smile. This was the last class of the day before dinner, and then his meeting with Lupin. Harry sat down next to Ron while Hermione paired with Neville.

"Take out your essays to hand in and we will then begin practicing animation transfiguration." Waving her wand to collect the papers, Professor McGonagall continued, "This spell, avis, when cast properly, will give a winged object flight, and in later levels, you will be able to conjure a flock of birds. You have each been given a matchbox and you know how to transfigure objects into paper forms. You may begin."

Harry easily enough turned the matchbox into a paper bird slightly resembling a phoenix. It was simple, since they transfigured paper planes before their first year; now they just had to imagine a different shape. '_Now the hard part… I wish I would have read ahead in transfiguration instead of just charms and Defence._' Instead of attempting the animation first, Harry looked behind him at Hermione.

"_Avis!_" her paper bird, resembling a swallow, glowed a light blue and twitched slightly before becoming still once more.

Turning back to his own paper bird, Harry concentrated, imagining the paper bird flapping its wings. Opening his eyes and pointing his wand, he said "_Avis!_" His spell hit the bird and it twitched like Hermione's. Instead of staying still, however, it twitched again, and again, becoming more violent until the wings started flapping. It was not hard enough to allow it to take off from the desk, but Harry was still surprised. He again pointed his wand at his paper bird, "_Avis!_" This time, the already moving wings jerked then fluttered, and the paper took off into the air, flying lazy circles around the desk.

"Well done, Mr. Potter, ten points to Gryffindor." Professor McGonagall praised, watching the bird fly a bit before returning to patrolling the class. Looking at Ron who was staring at him, as was half the class, Harry ducked his head. Ron was still working on making his matchbox more bird-like and hadn't even begun trying to animate it. Looking behind him, he wasn't surprised that Hermione already had her bird flapping its wings slowly, though she raised a questioning eyebrow at him.

After class (during which Harry managed to animate another bird, this time with only one spell), they left to go to dinner. Sitting down at their usual spots, Hermione turned to Harry.

"Were you reading ahead this summer?" she asked, putting some food on her plate.

"No, well, yes, but not for transfiguration." Harry admitted. "I was mostly looking over Defense and Charms… I managed to cast an Incarcerous Charm the other day." Harry mentioned off-handedly.

Hermione stopped eating, "Harry, that's a fifth-year spell!"

Harry mentally kicked himself, "Erm… I read a little farther ahead? It seemed like a good spell to know."

"It is, but weren't you tired after you cast it?" Hermione asked.

Harry thought back and shook his head. "No… not really. I cast a few other spells after that one, too. What are you getting at, Hermione?"

"Harry, there's a reason we learn small spells first then harder spells. Part of it is because we need to know the mechanics behind the more complex spells in order to work them, but the other part is that we don't have enough magical energy to even attempt higher-level spells. If a spell requires more magical energy than we have, our wands won't even try casting it. That's why when we first tried transfiguring a match into a needle, the spell didn't do anything. Beginning third years shouldn't be able to cast fifth year material until at least near the end of the year." Hermione lectured.

"Then how do you explain me being able to cast fifth year charms?" Harry asked.

"I'm not sure, maybe you just naturally have more magical energy, but if that was true, then you should have been able to excel in your first and second year classes…" Hermione trailed off, getting the gleam in her eyes that meant only one thing, "Well, I'm going to go to the library. Good luck with your lesson tonight, Harry."

With that, the witch finished one more bite before heading off to the library.

"Mental, that one," Ron said after a moment. "Does it matter how you can cast a spell if you can cast it?"

Harry shrugged, "It would be kind of interesting to know, especially with the shield charm. We could find out if you two could learn it then."

"Learn what?" Harry's head snapped around as he recognized the voice he hadn't heard in a week.

"Hey, Ginny," Harry greeted with a genuine smile. He was happy to see her return the smile as she sat down next to him where Hermione was a minute ago.

"Hey, Harry. Learn what?" she asked again, dishing herself some food on the again clean plate.

"A shield charm."

"Oh, like the one you used on the train?" Ginny asked, remembering. Suddenly, her eyes widened and she stared at Harry.

"You used it on the train? How come?" Ron asked, looking at the two now.

Harry thought fast, remembering what Ginny had said on the train, "Well, after I met up with Ginny, I showed her some of the spells I tried out during the summer." Turning back to the girl, he noticed her odd look, "Ginny?"

Ginny merely shook her head, but he thought he heard her mumble 'later' to him under her breath. The rest of the meal was finished with light conversation, ending with Harry leaving to go to Professor Lupin's classroom.

"So you are learning this Patronus Charm to drive off those things on the train?" Ginny asked as Harry stood and gathered his bag. Seeing his nod, she continued, "Can I join? I want to be able to stop them as well."

"I'll have to ask Professor Lupin. I'll let you know tomorrow?" Harry asked, hoping she'd agree and that their odd avoidance was over.

"Sure." She said, turning back to her meal.

"Later Ron," Harry said, giving a small wave while inwardly frowning at Ginny's cool attitude towards him.

"Later mate," Ron said before he turned back to his half-finished pudding.

* * *

A/N: I'd like to thank all of those who favored and reviewed my story. They mean a lot to me, and they definitely helped motivate me to continue working on this chapter. As for the story itself, I have decided that I will make some parts AU from the cannon, though they are smaller points (some of which you have already seen). You will see what I mean more as we go on, but rest assured of two things: this will be Harry/Ginny, and, this will follow main cannon events to the Order of the Phoenix. Everything else is up for grabs as far as changing. Also, I decided to add a three-parter for the phoenix pre-meeting with Harry. As always, reviews are appreciated.


	3. The Second Patronus

Disclaimer: I do not assume to own Harry Potter. I only assume rights to the order of the words and to any new ideas I add and create.

Important A/N: The first two chapters have been updated! While you should probably review them because of the huge lapse in time between postings, you will not miss out on too much if you skip to this chapter.

That being said, enjoy:

* * *

_Basking in the warmth of the sun, she closed her eyes, enjoying the warm breeze as she floated in the sky. '_Help! Help! I need to fight this thing so I can save Ginny!_' The phoenix's eyes flashed open as a surge of magic rushed through her, calling to her.__She knew what this meant; this had already happened to her once before._

_Closing her eyes once more, she focused and saw through the eyes of the person whose thoughts had entered her mind. Even though their thoughts had initiated the bond, she still had the ability to judge the person's actions before looking them in the eyes and completing their bond. _

_Opening her eyes once more, she saw a dark, wet chamber of some sorts, with the head of a man carved into a wall that the person, a boy, was running towards. Hitting a glancing blow off an attacking snake's head, she heard his thoughts, '_This isn't working! I need to find a spot where this will get through…_' His eyes darted towards a girl lying on the floor and felt the surge of strength and determination to kill the monster the girl had given him._

_Pulling back, the phoenix thought of what she had just seen as she landed on the peak of the stone triangle. She was not sure if she should bond with this boy. While he was indeed pure of thought, it was only for that one girl that he must have liked. This was the same as the other person who had initiated a bond with her which she had rejected. As with him, sure enough, shortly after the incident he had fought with the girl and when she left for another, he had become cold and embittered towards all. Because of this, she decided not to complete the bond with the boy, because while it was a pure thought, it was not a selfless act._

'I failed her… And Ron…_' She heard the voice fading as the connection began to wane from her not reestablishing contact. The voices would diminish over time, and within a few minutes, she would cease to her him altogether. '_If nothing more, I can try to stop him…'

_The phoenix closed her eyes and saw the fuzzy image remnants from the boy's eyes, feeling his pain as something burned its way through his body. There was screaming followed by a bright flash or light, then silence. Moments later, she heard the voice of a girl in the distance, "Harry! It was me… I-I opened the chamber, but I didn't mean to. Riddle made me…" The voice was so distant now; the phoenix knew the bond would soon break…_

* * *

"_So you are learning this Patronus Charm to drive off those things on the train?" Ginny asked as Harry stood and gathered his bag. Seeing his nod, she continued, "Can I join? I want to be able to stop them as well."_

"_I'll have to ask Professor Lupin. I'll let you know tomorrow?" Harry asked, hoping she'd agree and that their odd avoidance was over._

"_Sure." She said, turning back to her meal._

"_Later Ron," Harry said, giving a small wave while inwardly frowning at Ginny's cool attitude towards him._

"_Later mate," Ron said before he turned back to his half-finished pudding._

* * *

Harry Potter and the Flight of the Phoenix

Book Three, Chapter Two – The Second Patronus

* * *

Ginny sat alone at the Gryffindor table long after he brother left, having finally finished eating. She felt confused, and not for the first time, about her relationship with Harry. She knew she was probably overreacting when Draco had accosted and attacked her in the empty compartment she found, but she couldn't help it. She was used to her brothers always trying to take care of their 'baby sister' and just assume that since she was a girl, she couldn't defend herself as effectively. She hated it, and having that exact situation play out with Harry… '_He probably thinks the same as my brothers now, that I'm weak._'

Ginny frowned at that thought, even though she knew he didn't, it still felt like it sometimes. '_That's not the only thing though,_' she continued silently. In a way, Harry had scared her a bit. '_That time in the train… I didn't think of it before, but on the first day of classes, Professor McGonagall said non-verbal magic wasn't covered until sixth year, and Harry didn't speak _or_ use a wand to deflect Draco's spell and free me from the full body bind…_' she thought,'_But why am I scared? He did it to help me._' Even so, Ginny shivered slightly. Her brothers had told her about Dumbledore before, and how he could perform some wandless magic; she heard it required great power and skill to cast a spell, more than most adults had. '_Did he even realize he cast it without speaking?_'

Ginny decided to ask Hermione about it later on as she stood up and collected her things. '_I'll turn in early tonight,_' she thought as she made her way to the entrance hall and up the stairs to Gryffindor tower. She was halfway there when she again thought of Harry with a sigh. '_I really am hopeless… Being like this around him is probably just going to drive him off, but I can't help that I like him,_' she thought, ascending the stairs. In the back of her mind, she again heard the voice saying that Harry would never want her, that she'd never be good enough for him.

Reaching the fat lady's portrait and giving the password, she quickly stepped inside and headed straight up to the girls second year dorms. Heading to the bathroom, she stopped in front of a mirror and looked at herself. '_Dull coarse red hair, baby fat, freckles…_' she listed off to herself as she gazed at her face first. '_All the girls in Harry's grade have sleek, soft looking hair; they don't have pudgy faces or freckles that stand out like beacons._' Looking lower in the mirror, she saw one of her three third-hand "black" robes, now so used and worn that they looked almost gray. They had small holes in them, some tears that were visibly mended, and they were too large for her, having come from Ron, who had them from Percy. '_And it's not just the robes._'

She felt her eyes prickle as she continued, and though she hated it, she couldn't stop herself. She thought of the clothes in her trunk, the clothes patched together by her mother, some shirts that were made entirely from different shreds and left over scraps of fabric, pants now more patchwork than original materials… Her mother tried, and they were presentable, but she never liked going out in her casual clothes. She could barely stand the taunts from wearing her normal school robes.

A tear fell when she remembered leaving her trunk open on her bed the first day when she went to the bathroom. She had come out to the other girls going through her trunk and laughing at her stuff. She wouldn't have been as mortified if one hadn't seen her secondhand knickers and waved them around for the other girls to see. The worst part about it was that those had always been a sore spot for her. No matter that her mother cleaned them especially, it felt wrong to wear secondhand undergarments, even if it only happened when her family was very hard-pressed for money, like last year.

Finally, she turned her body sideways in the mirror, seeing herself look the same as she had her first year. When she started, the other girls had been the same as her, and since she didn't change much, she expected the other girls to be about the same as well. But upon seeing her roommates again this year, she realized she was the only one who hadn't noticeably changed since first year. Tears fell freely as she turned back to the mirror, knowing that she would never be noticed for her looks. As much as she loved her family, she sometimes wished things were different.

* * *

Harry felt warm and light as he knocked on the door to Professor Lupin's office. Ginny had finally talked to him again, and while she did not seem completely back to normal, he was still incredibly happy that she was no longer avoiding him. Hearing the Professor's 'Come in,' he opened the door.

"Ah, Harry, right on time." the professor said with a smile, motioning him in, "Close the door, will you?"

Harry stepped in and after turning back, saw the professor levitate a chest down in front of his desk. "Now, the charm you are going to learn is one not even covered in NEWT defence classes, so do not feel bad if you cannot produce anything. Even after all of these years, I haven't been able to produce a full patronus. The key to this spell is being able to think of a happy memory, and not just any happy memory, the happiest one you can think of." The professor said as he sat down on the trunk. "I'll give you some time to find that memory."

'_When was the happiest I've felt?_' Harry wondered as times seemed to flit through his mind, the very first time he rode a broom, the feeling he had the last day of term when Ginny walked down the stairs, smiling at him, learning he was free from the Dursleys for the whole school year… all of these memories passed though his mind as he judged them against each other, until he settled on one. "Alright, I have one."

"Good, now, there are three tiers to this spell. The first is a simple shield, the next is an incorporeal ball, and the final stage is a corporeal patronus in the form of an animal. The incantation is 'Expecto Patronum' and you do not need to flourish your wand to cast, though you need to to move it," Professor Lupin explained, giving a quick frown at his wording. "Here, I'll demonstrate… _Expecto Patronum!_" Harry said nothing as felt a sense of déjà vu settled uncomfortably in his stomach. He knew he had never seen this charm before today, but still…

Professor Lupin gave a general flick of his wand and a wisp of white was shot from the end before a white shield seemed to appear before the man, only it bent outward and away from him, the opposite of the Protego charm. "This is the shield patronus. It is significantly easier to master and is also useful in its own right, but I want you to try to aim for this," Lupin said, canceling the spell and seeming to concentrate harder, "_Expecto Patronum!_"

Again, the wisp shot out at first, but then a brilliant white ball shot out of the tip of the wand and floated in front of the professor. Gesturing with his wand, the professor caused the ethereal ball to fly around the room wherever he wanted it to go. "This is an incorporeal patronus. It is the intermediate level between the shield and corporeal patronus. This can be used to drive off dementors, but it is not as powerful nor as large as a full patronus. Once you have mastered the patronus, you should be able to drive off more than just one or two dementors at a time. Also, the more powerful you are, the larger the patronus becomes and the stronger it will be. For now however, I want you to try to master the incorporeal patronus. We'll let you try alone at first, though it is a lot different and harder with a dementor present.

"Now close your eyes, and let the memory fill you, then speak, Expecto Patronum." Harry nodded and concentrated on his memory, feeling the warmth it gave him.

Raising his wand, Harry concentrated and spoke, "_Expecto Patronum!_" Before him he saw a wisp of white shoot out before it disappeared.

"Harry, perhaps you should try a different memory, a stronger one." Professor Lupin suggested.

Harry nodded as he closed his eyes, thinking of his happy memory while focusing on the warmth and the something a little more than contentedness that it gave him. He concentrated on that feeling, feeling it envelop him in warmth, along with the desire to defend himself from the dementor.

"_Expecto Patronum!_" Harry called, seconds before having the strangely familiar feeling of the warmth being drawn into his wand and expelled. From behind his eyelids, a bright light suddenly flared and, opening his eyes, he saw almost the same shield that had issued from Lupin's wand.

"Excellent, excellent!" Remus praised, looking at Harry in astonishment as he cast the spell for the first time and correctly. When Harry pulled back the warmth, the spell faded and as he lowered his wand, Lupin spoke again. "Now, remember, this will be more difficult with an actual dementor," he warned. "Since they are too dangerous to try to even bring in the school, we are going to try out the boggart we had in class today." Harry nodded and readied himself.

* * *

"That's enough for tonight, Harry," Professor Lupin said an hour later. "We can practice again next week if you want."

Harry was frustrated and exhausted, as good as he was with the magic he was learning in classes, he could only produce the shield, despite the memory he used. What's more, each time it seemed to drain him of energy considerably. He nodded, however, as he replaced his wand and suddenly remembered, "Professor Lupin, I was wondering… could Ginny practice with us next week?" At the professor's questioning look, he continued, "She wanted to learn how to as well, since they also affect her."

Professor Lupin seemed to think it over before he turned back to Harry, "Alright. Bring her next time. You'll have to practice one by one with the dementor, but that's after she manages a shield."

Harry nodded and they began walking to the door, taking the offered chocolate bar. "It's alright Harry; it is a rather difficult charm, and you did well to even reach that level." Professor Lupin tried to reassure him. "Goodnight Harry."

"Goodnight Professor," Harry said as the door closed behind him and he made his way down the corridor to the stairs. As if sensing his frustration and exhaustion, Aura flamed into existence in front of him, trilling softly. "Hey girl."

Aura trilled again, lifting his spirit despite himself as she landed on a nearby suit of armor and stared at him again. This time, Harry calmly stared back into the phoenix's eyes. He saw the power and wisdom the magical bird held, even more so than before. Blinking, Aura took off and glided over to Harry. As soon as she landed, Harry felt a warmth travel over him and a second later, he was in the boy's dormitories in Gryffindor Tower.

"Thanks," Harry smiled as he opened his curtains while Aura perched on the head of his bed. Not bothering to change, he lay down and fell promptly to sleep, despite the early hour.

Aura began to glow gold, and with a flap of her wings, took off and began flying in circles around the boy, singing a soft, magical melody. Closing her eyes, Aura entered Harry's mind.

The boy was in the Defence classroom, trying again and failing to produce the incorporeal patronus. Aura saw the memory he was using and felt how the spell drained him. Cast improperly with a weaker memory, the spell drew a lot upon the user's own magical energy to form. That he could produce the shield was a compliment to his power, but she knew the boy did not have a happy enough memory to produce more than that simple shield. She knew he barely had any happy memories at all when she first looked him in the eyes in the chamber.

Knowing there was nothing she could do about that, Aura continued to watch the boy's dream silently as she imbued him with what power she could and some unconscious knowledge of the spell. Also, seeing another memory, Aura planned one more stop later for that night. By the time the boys came up the stairs an hour later, Aura was gone.

* * *

Ginny woke up feeling refreshed and oddly enough, happy. She thought she heard phoenix song when she was on the verge of waking, but shook it off, thinking she simply dreamt it. She remembered her thoughts from last night, but oddly enough, she felt confident instead of worried or depressed. '_If he likes me, he likes me, if not, we can still be friends,_' she thought as she got ready. She was later than usual getting down to breakfast, and the Gryffindor table was mostly full by the time she entered the Great Hall.

Looking down the table, she spotted Harry and the others and headed over before sitting down in the space next to Harry. "Good morning," she said in a happy voice and Harry looked up at her in surprise. She gave him a small smile before turning to the food and getting some toast and eggs.

"Morning Ginny," she heard a few say and after taking a bite of toast, turned to Harry.

"So what did Professor Lupin have to say?" She asked, taking another bite.

"Oh, he said okay. You can come with me next week and practice, but we'll have to go one at a time when we face the dementor." Harry said, finding Ginny's attitude slightly odd, but was enjoying it over when she avoided him.

"Good."

The four spent the rest of breakfast talking randomly before they packed up and Harry, Ron and Hermione headed off to Potions while Ginny went to Charms.

The temperature dropped as they descended the dungeon steps and into potions class. Snape of course was his usual unpleasant self. From the beginning of class he deducted ten points for not cleaning his cauldron properly before class. As they began working on their delirium draughts, Harry began to feel comfortable as he cut his ingredients. He didn't know what was happening since he was always on edge, but even when Snape banished his cauldron contents in the first quarter of class, he felt confident he could still finish on time.

He didn't know what was happening, but he quickly and efficiently cut, added stirred and simmered the potion. Next to him, Ron, who had the full time without having to restart, was only halfway done and panicking. Hermione was faring better, but still was working on finishing the potion when Harry bottled some of his. He stared at the vial in his hand as he thought about what just happened. He hadn't followed the book word for word as he brewed the potion. In some places, he turned the heat higher or stirred differently than was called for, and he finished his potion faster than the others. At the same time, it looked the same deep navy blue that the book said.

'_What's happening? I just finished the potion in less time it should normally take and actually made it perfectly…_' Before he could actually think about it, Snape walked up behind him.

"Potter, five points for loafing around during class time. Why aren't you working on your potion?"

"I-I'm done, sir," Harry said, holding out the vial to the professor. Snape snatched t and examined the color before opening it and smelling it. His face contorted after each examination, but at the same time he looked impressed. '_I must be losing my mind; Snape impressed?_' Harry thought as the Professor looked around the room oddly for a moment.

"Very well, Potter. Pack your things and go."

Harry didn't question his luck. He quickly packed up, receiving a betrayed look from Ron and a questioning glance from Hermione. Leaving the dungeons, he walked aimlessly for ten minutes until he finally stopped outside the charms classroom. Just then charms let out and a bunch of second years started coming out. Harry recognized a certain red-headed person in the crowd and walked towards her.

"Hey Ginny," Harry smiled as Ginny stopped and looked at him funnily.

"Did someone have an accident and let potions out early?" She looked around. "Where's Hermione and Ron?"

"Err… actually, I finished my potion early and left." Harry said, earning an even weirder look.

"I thought you were bad at potions. You are usually late out of the class if anything." Ginny said.

Harry shrugged as he turned and started walking with Ginny next to him. "I am. I don't really understand it myself. I was cutting up ingredients and just started doing my own thing. I got the potion done fast and Snape even looked impressed, I thought."

Ginny snorted, "Snape impressed with you? Now I know you are lying. What are you doing here anyway?"

"I just started wandering the halls and ended up here. Come on, Potions should be ending soon. I'll prove I wasn't lying." Harry said, turning back the other way and taking Ginny's hand to drag her with him.

They were halfway to the dungeons before he noticed he was still holding Ginny's hand, but since she didn't say anything, neither did he. As odd as it was, he kind of liked holding her hand. As they rounded the corner into the entrance hall, students were just walking up from the dungeon staircase.

"Harry!" they heard Hermione call as she ran over, Ron in toe. Finally letting go of Ginny's hand, he turned fully towards Hermione just as she reached them. "How did you get done early? What did you do?" She immediately questioned.

"See? I told you," Harry told Ginny quickly before turning back. "I don't really know. I was following the instructions, really, but I just did some parts differently."

"You did stuff differently from the book without knowing why or what could happen?" Hermione looked shocked, "You could have blown the class up! I can't believe you!"

"Settle down Hermione," Harry said, looking around as the last of the class filed past the group. "I got the potion done and nothing happened."

"That's not the point!" Hermione sputtered but then just sighed. "Whatever, let's go to class, we have charms next."

Ron just looked at Harry and shrugged as he walked away and followed Hermione. Turning, Harry looked at Ginny, "What class do you have next?"

"Herbology," Ginny signed. It was starting to get colder outside and she wasn't looking forward to freezing outside while she waited with the class.

"Come on then," Harry smiled as he walked her to the doors leading to the greenhouses. "See you tonight?" he asked as she turned to him.

"Yeah," Ginny smiled back before impulsively hugging him.

Harry stood frozen for a moment before returning the hug. '_I guess she is over the train now,_' he thought, holding onto her. Harry was about to let go when he realized she hadn't made a move to yet. He was just about to ask her when she pulled back giving him a brilliant smile which Harry returned, a warm glow enveloping him. '_I'm probably over-thinking this, but still… This was the first time anyone's hugged me just to hug me…_' Harry's mind wandered as he walked off to class, unable to wipe the large grin off his face.

Things were definitely looking better.

* * *

Harry sighed over his supper. Charms class was rather uneventful. That is if you consider Harry getting the spell correct the first time. Professor Flitwick had given him a slightly odd look before asking him to help the other students perform it. The rest of the day was uneventful as he had no classes after lunch. Instead, he walked Ginny to her classes after meeting up with her on the way in from the greenhouses. She didn't seem to mind, and he was still able to get homework done in between classes.

Looking up at the clock he turned to Ginny who was eating next to him. "Ginny, we have to meet Lupin in ten minutes, are you ready?"

She nodded and smiled happily as they stood up, waving goodbye to Ron and Hermione who were discussing the Transfiguration essay due tomorrow.

"Are you ready?" Professor Lupin asked after having explained everything to Ginny and leaving her to practice in the other room. "Good, then on the count of three…"

Harry used the time Professor Lupin was explaining things to Ginny to search his memories again, trying to find a more powerful memory. Smiling, he found one he had almost forgotten of about last year.

"Three!"

_After sitting down by the lake and talking while watching the sunset for a while, Harry and Ginny decided to turn in. Standing up and offering her a hand, he helped pull Ginny up and began walking back towards the castle. Feeling a tugging on his arm, he turned back and watched as Ginny bit her lip lightly. He was about to ask her what was wrong when she spoke._

"_I know I already thanked you for saving me, but… I just don't feel like that is enough," she frowned. "You risked your life for me when we didn't even really talk before, and…" she trailed off._

"_Ginny, I told you I_**–**_" His voice caught as she moved forward, her red hair framed by the sunset, the red glow shining off her hair and seeming to make it smolder like fire. When she reached him, she slowly wrapped her arms around him and held him, and it was like nothing he had ever felt before._

_He had never been hugged growing up, nor given the slightest worry for his wellbeing, other than if something life-threatening happened to the Dursley's cleaning boy. Even when he had been hugged these past two years, it was always just a quick squeeze, usually Hermione, as a greeting, or by somebody older. As Harry wrapped his arms around Ginny, he felt something seem to fill his body where she touched him, not squeezing the life out of him as a friend, but… He didn't know how to describe it, but he didn't want to stop._

_Harry let the feeling surround him and he held onto Ginny long after the final rays of the sun were finally hidden behind the forest._

"_Expecto Patronum!_" Harry called, the new memory filling him. While the shield worked and held up against a dementor, the professor had wanted to see if he could produce the same level of patronus that he could, and so he asked Harry to try a different memory this time. He had noticed that the memories with Ginny seemed to be stronger, which led to his current choice, though the feeling he had from this memory was not just happiness, but, something else as well.

At first, the spell began the same as the boggart closed in, with a small flare of whitish energy issuing form his wand. It seemed to draw upon the strange feeling the memory invoked, but then, instead of the shield he had come to expect, the wisps that shot out coalesced into a bright white sphere. Shocked, Harry lost control of the memory and the ball flickered before failing.

Darkness consumed him as he heard a rushing sound and flashes of green light, followed by a woman's scream.

"_Harry!_"

* * *

Harry groaned as he came back to consciousness, seeing Aura flying overhead and singing, much like when he first met her.

"Harry!" he heard Ginny cry from somewhere just beyond his line of sight.

"Here, eat this." Harry heard Professor Lupin say as his sight was suddenly filled with a bar of chocolate, much the same as when he first passed out.

"Thanks," Harry got out as Aura landed on his shoulder and poked his cheek with her beak as if in admonishment. Harry noticed how cold he was this time, and without the phoenix song anymore, he felt chilled. Biting into the chocolate, he again reveled in the warmth it provided. Standing up he was hugged by Ginny which he returned with one arm while still getting his bearings.

Remus smiled, "Very well done the both of you. I think that will be it for tonight. Unfortunately I will be busy the next few days so we'll have to meet sometime next week. Harry, if you don't mind me asking though, what memory did you use?"

Harry blushed lightly, looking anywhere but at the professor and Ginny, "Just… getting hugged for the first time."

Remus merely nodded. "Alright you two, off you go, and congratulations on getting a shield, Ginny."

"Thanks professor," Harry and Ginny said before turning and leaving.

Harry looked over at Ginny and saw her giving him a small smile, "Congratulations, and what?"

"Nothing," she said, the smile growing a bit before she turned away. '_I'm not going to tell you I used the memory of you saving me from the chamber to get a shield, but thank you._'

The two walked in companiable silence as they made their way up the corridor to the common room. When they reached the staircase to the bedrooms, Ginny turned to Harry.

"I guess I'll see you tomorrow," Harry smiled.

Ginny returned the smile before stepping in and leaning up, giving him a small peck on the cheek, leaving him beet red. "Goodnight Harry."

"Goodnight," He returned softly after she was already up the stairs. That night Harry had a large smile on his face that lasted until his head hit the pillow and sleep claimed him.

* * *

Harry smiled as he sat down with Ron and Hermione for breakfast. He told them how he had managed to conjure an incorporeal patronus before Ginny sat down next to Harry.

"Ginny, why do you always have to tag along? Go away and sit with your own year," Ron said with a frown. '_Why does she always have to come here and take the spotlight? I liked it when she was quiet last year._' Ron thought. He didn't like that she was taken to the Chamber, but after that she always seemed to be going off with Harry and ignoring him.

"Ronald!" Hermione hissed besides him, slapping his arm.

"She is staying, and she is not tagging along." Harry said angrily as he grabbed her right hand and pulled her back so she was sitting next to him.

Ron frowned, "Why? I don't see what you see in my little sister. She's boring and it's not like she's pretty."

Harry's eyes burned gold for a brief second before he calmed himself, but nobody seemed to notice. He held firm to her hand as Ginny tried to stand up again before grabbing her shoulder and returning last night's peck on her cheek. "I think she's brilliant," Harry said with a smile at her before turning to Ron. "She is not and will never be a tagalong, Ron. She's my friend and your family, why do you treat her like a Malfoy?"

Ginny's face matched her hair even as she gave a small grin to Harry. '_He really means that,_' she thought with a pleasant glow.

"What? I-I don't treat her like a Malfoy!" Ron said indignantly, "I just don't want her…" Ron trailed off with a frown, not wanting to give the real reason. "I'll see you at class."

Hermione sighed as he walked off before smiling brightly at Ginny, "You are always welcome to sit with us." She then gave Harry a look and knew she'd be asking about the kiss later.

Harry frowned lightly as she went back to eating and reading the book she had propped up against the milk jug. Finishing his meal, he turned to Ginny to ask her what class she was going to when he noticed her eating with her left hand. Looking down, he saw that he was still gently holding her hand from when she had tried to run off.

Feeling his gaze on her, she turned after having successfully speared a sausage and smiled sheepishly when he looked down at their hands. Shrugging, she turned back to her meal before Harry shrugged himself. "What class do you have first?"

"Today is Transfiguration and Potions, then lunch," Ginny listed off before continuing eating. Harry himself had Herbology first and so calculated the time needed to walk Ginny to her class first.

Looking at the clock he turned to her, "Then we had better get going."

She smiled and finished off her plate before they stood and walked out of the hall, Ginny shyly grabbing for his hand again.

* * *

Ron grumbled to himself as he wandered the halls a bit before heading out to the greenhouses. '_Why does Ginny have to keep bothering us?_' he asked himself for the umpteenth time. '_I know she's family and all but she is *not* pretty and I'm not being a Malfoy to her, I just want to work with my best mate and Hermione again without her taking Harry's attention,_' he reasoned to himself.

He made his way to greenhouse two and sat down near the end of the table wish Hermione sitting down next to him a few minutes later. '_There has to be a way to get her to leave us alone…_' Ron frowned before an idea hit him. He wasn't sure if it would work, but it would be worth the try.

Harry walked into class just as it was starting and took his seat next to Neville, who, despite being one of the experts on Herbology, was still too timid to work with others. Harry greeted him warmly and Neville seemed to smile and straighten up a bit at that. They talked a bit before class began and they began the mindless work of repotting some less harmful plants.

Harry's mind wandered as his hands worked. His thoughts, unsurprisingly, turned to a certain fire-haired girl. They hadn't talked much as he dropped her off for Transfiguration, but she still smiled and gave him a hug before she walked into class and he rushed down to make it to his on time. '_What is going on with us?_' Harry wondered as he carefully filled the next plant pot with dragon dung compost. '_I like being with her, and she makes me happy, especially the spur of the moment hugs, but…_' Harry smiled softly as he imagined Ginny jumping around with excitement and energy, thinking she looked cute. '_I guess I like her a little… I meant what I said to Ron, she's smart, nice and makes me feel happy. I just know I want to be with her more._'

Harry loved Ron and Hermione dearly and was happy when he was with them, but he never felt the same joy he did when he was with the youngest Weasley. He couldn't explain how he felt for her. She was definitely a friend, but, definitely different than Ron and Hermione. '_Great, now I've just gone and confused myself._' Harry thought sarcastically. '_I guess I'll just take the days as they come._'

* * *

Ron stood up after sitting in the common room with Harry, Ginny and Hermione for the past hour and reading. Dean and Seamus had gone up a minute ago and the other three didn't look like they were moving anytime soon.

Begging off as tired he hurried up to the third year boy's dormitories and walked in, just catching Dean and Seamus as they were getting ready to go to bed.

"Hey mate," Dean greeted as he walked in.

"Hey," Ron greeted as he thought of how to bring it up. Finally he just gave up and decided to ask them straight out. "Can one of you ask my sister out?"

The dorm was silent for a moment before the other two burst out laughing.

"What?"

"Are you kidding me?"

Ron frowned slightly, and taking in his expression, Dean looked at Seamus before turning back to Ron. "Mate, I don't know why you are even asking but she's young, and no offence, but she's not too pretty either."

"Yeah, besides, doesn't Harry like her?" Seamus asked.

"Nah, they are just hanging out, but forget I asked anything." Ron said as he began changing. The other two shrugged and pulled their curtains closed, while Ron frowned again. '_Guess I'll have to try for plan B._'

* * *

Back in the common room, Harry yawned slightly as he sat in front of the fire. Ginny was sitting sideways on the couch, leaning against him slightly as she read for charms while he worked on memorizing Arithmancy tables. Shifting slightly, he leaned a bit against Ginny, feeling more comfortable than before and smiled. '_I can get used to this._'

Feeling he shift in response, Harry frowned when she pulled back and he was just about to sit up straight again when she turned a bit and leaned directly against him, a small smile on her face. Smiling as well, Harry once again leaned against her, dropping his head on top of hers lightly.

Hermione sighed as she snuggles down into the cough while surreptitiously watching the pair besides her. She was kind of jealous since she also liked Harry, but over the past year she grew to see him as more of a brother. Not that it mattered now, since even though he didn't seem to recognize it, he seemed to like Ginny a lot. Smiling at how content Harry looked (something she had rarely seen before) she turned back to her charms book, mentally practicing the wand motions and incantations. Even if she liked Harry, being second in class was beginning to annoy her, just a little. She was enjoying the challenge, however.

* * *

Aura flamed in early in the morning. The boy's dorm was dead, and everyone was sound asleep. She trilled quietly as she initiated the bonding again, glowing gold as she transferred power and unconscious knowledge to her bond mate.

She knew that even without the bond he would develop to become a powerful wizard, but seeing his fate in his eyes when they first bonded, she wanted to help him reach his potential sooner and push beyond it.

Using the bond, she entered the dark-haired boy's mind, feeling his contentment as he dreamed about being with the fire-haired girl. She was happy about the small confidence boost she had given to the girl and decided to check on her later. For now, Aura slowly descended and landed on the covers, facing the boy and leaning down, gently touching foreheads as she entered his mind, going past the dreams. She had entered his mind before, but that was to view his memories. Now she entered and saw how he viewed things. She was saddened by how mature his thoughts were, having lost his childhood to the people he lived with.

Changing to view his thoughts on the fire-haired girl, she felt the same contentment, friendship and love, though he had yet to identify it. Turning back to his magic, she reviewed the spells and his power in her mind before taking off and beginning the ritual to transfer knowledge and increase his power. She had already granted him about a quarter of her knowledge, and soon would begin teaching him the more ancient curses and charms. Some were simply more powerful derivations of modern spells, but others were unique spells long forgotten and lost to time.

After finishing the transfer for tonight, she flamed over to the second year girl's dormitory. Flying over to the far bed, she landed and viewed the mind of the girl. She felt proud as the darkness in the girl's mind seemed to be pushed back by her bond-mate's presence and happiness instead filled the girl's mind. Moving from her memories to her conscious mind, Aura viewed the fire-haired girl's innocent dream about her bond mate, and felt the love the girl had for him.

Breaking contact, Aura once again flew up before flaming away to her bond mate's room to rest for the few hours before classes. In reality, she did not need to sleep, but she enjoyed spending time sharing her bond mate's dreams. Entering his dream reassured her of her choice to help him as she flew down on his shoulder while he swung on a tree swing, sitting next to the fire-haired girl, holding her hand and talking.

* * *

A/N: So, I've finally updated! And better yet, I'll probably update again later on this weekend. I've finally found my writing muse and time again. As always, let me know what you think about the chapter and any suggestions of things you might want to see. I have the story generally planned out and for the moment it looks like following cannon events until GoF and post GoF going AUish more and more with events.


	4. Sevenway Trip to Hogsmeade

Disclaimer: I do not assume to own Harry Potter. I only assume rights to the order of the words and to any new ideas I add and create.

Onto the story:

* * *

_A few more seconds passed, "Harry you're hurt…" she said. Suddenly, the image sharpened inside her head as the boy spoke._

_"Don't worry about me. Ginny, you need to get yourself out. Follow the chamber and you'll find Ron." Even with the image sharp once more, something that had never happened before, she saw the image turning to black. _'At least I know Ginny will be alright… I'm glad I could help her, even if this is the end… I wish… I could have gotten to know her… helped her before this…_'_

_The phoenix knew that the boy was not even aware of thinking that last part. She had felt his grip on consciousness slip before he had finished. Inside herself, the phoenix felt a pull to the boy. This pull she had never felt before, but as more time passed, the feeling increased. Without even concentrating, she flamed to his side, seeing a phoenix she had not seen in a long time, crying on the boy's arm._

_'__Sister, it is your time.__' She heard her brother trill as he flapped his wings and landed in front of her. '__For you to have come only means one thing. I have seen this one and I know he is phoenix kin, which you will see soon enough. I will see you again, sister.__' she watched as her brother flamed away, leaving her and the boy._

_She closed her eyes and felt his life force fading. Feeling her instincts take over, she opened her eyes and took to the air, flying around him as she began to sing phoenix reborn. Slowly, a golden glow began to shine from her, the glow growing brighter and brighter before it flashed once and a golden dome spread slowly downwards, surrounding the boy and preventing his soul from escaping his body. Slowly, she used her innate magic and pushed down, compressing the golden dome, causing it to anchor the soul to the boy's body once more. The dome flashed once more before it dispersed, even as she felt him regain consciousness._

_She continued flying even when she saw him get up, but the song was near its end. Gradually, she floated downward, and upon landing in front of him, the song ended._

_"You're not Fawkes…" she heard him name her brother as she stepped forward. She crooned in agreement then looked up into his green eyes. She looked through them, seeing his memories, his entire life, pay in front of her. She was saddened by what he had gone through, but knew that her brother spoke the truth about this one. Gazing deeper, she anchored part of her mind inside his own, a part which would let them communicate and share other thoughts and knowledge. Blinking once, she jumped onto his knee, calling softly for them to go. Though their completed bond, he could understand her, and would soon be able to call her mentally._

_The phoenix crooned lowly as the boy, Harry, stroked her gently. Her wait was over; now the next journey in her life is set to begin._

* * *

_Hermione smiled at how content Harry looked (something she had rarely seen before) as she turned back to her charms book, mentally practicing the wand motions and incantations. Even if she liked Harry, being second in class was beginning to annoy her, just a little. She was enjoying the challenge, however._

* * *

Harry Potter and the Flight of the Phoenix

Book Three, Chapter Three – Seven-way Trip to Hogsmeade

* * *

Harry, Ginny, Ron and Hermione stood at the entrance to the school as the first trip to Hogsmeade was about to go. Hermione was still getting her name checked off. It had been several months since Harry and Ginny had tried the patronus and in that time, Harry had managed to finally get a hand of the incorporeal patronus while fighting a dementor, but while Ginny was also able to create one, she wasn't able to use the boggart since it turned not into a dementor, but into Tom Riddle.

"Don't worry Harry, I'll grab you some sweets from Honeydukes," Ron grinned bundling up his jacket as the last few people were checked off on the list. "Looks like we are leaving, later mate!"

Harry smiled as Ron turned around and left, but frowned when he looked back down at Ginny who had her eyes downcast.

"Cheer up, I'll share some of what I get with you." Harry promised, making her look up quickly with a smile before they turned to go back up the stairs. Harry gave her hand a squeeze as they went up to the seventh floor. While the others were enjoying themselves at Hogsmeade, they were going relax in the warm common room.

"Harry, wait." Ginny stopped and Harry turned to face her. "Can we just walk around the castle for a bit? I… Don't feel like going back to the common room right now."

"Alright," Harry smiled as he took her hand and led her away from the portrait of the Fat Lady. He knew the real reason why she didn't want to go back to the common room, and he didn't really want to be stared at either. Walking around, they started reading all of the tapestries and portraits they came across.

Upon reaching a particularly interesting tapestry, Ginny paused and read it.

'Barnabus the Barmy_,_' Harry thought, shrugging. Ginny laughed as she watched the portrait as Barnabus tried to teach trolls how to dance, the results of which were quite hilarious indeed. '_I wish we had someplace we could just pass the time together where we wouldn't have to worry about everyone looking at us._' Harry frowned, looking at Ginny.

Suddenly, he heard a scraping noise behind him and he turned, seeing a door grow out of the wall.

"Harry..? What just happened?" He heard Ginny ask as He started walking curiously towards the door. Pushing it open, he saw a slightly dark room, the main lighting coming from two small windows and a roaring fireplace on the other side of the room. In front of the fire was a small couch and in one corner of the room, a table and two chairs, with a few shelves of books against the wall. On the other side there was s short, raised platform running from one end of the room to the other and it appeared to be well padded.

"I don't know," Harry answered truthfully as he stepped inside, Ginny following behind. The door closed after they both entered and shrank away into the wall, but neither noticed. The two continued on, exploring the room and looking at the books available. It was small, but cozy and when Harry sat down, the couch was just as comfortable as the one in Gryffindor common room. Smiling, he motioned for Ginny to join him and a few seconds later she plopped down next to him with a grin. "I've never seen this room before."

Me neither, but I like it." Ginny grinned.

Harry looked back at the door, only to find it missing. "Ginny, where's the doo—" he was cut off, however, when the door started growing back into place, "Oh."

Turning back, he looked at Ginny before he heard the door beginning to shrink back into the wall again. "Cool."

Ginny merely smirked at his statement before turning back and looking into the fire, Harry joined her a moment later and she leaned into him as became their usual position. Harry untangled his left arm and gently draped it around her before leaning back against her.

"What do you think this room is?" Ginny asked as she looked around. As she said it, a table popped up from the ground besides the couch with a book on top, _Hogwarts: A History_.

Taking the book, Ginny opened it to a page that was bookmarked. Looking down at the titles she began to read, "The Room of Requirement. Also known as the come and go room for its ability to appear and disappear when someone in need is nearby. The room is said to appear with whatever a person needs at the moment, but whatever is conjured in the room cannot leave it."

"Wow," Harry said looking around before he finally understood, "Oh! I was wishing that we had a place to pass the time together without being bothered."

Ginny beamed at him as she put the book back on the end table and turned under his arm, wrapping her own around him as she settled against him again. "Thanks Harry."

"Any time," He said lamely, but she didn't seem to care.

They whiled away the hours talking to each other about random things, until they both decided to try casting their patronuses. Walking over to what appeared to be a dueling lane, Harry jumped when he saw the wall behind Ginny drop, revealing a dementor in a cage. The room itself, however, didn't seem to cool down with its presence. Grinning at Ginny, he pointed behind her at the dementor, "I guess that solves our problem."

Ginny grinned as she walked back to where harry was. "So what now?"

"I'll stay back and get ready to drive back the dementor with my patronus. Why don't you try to cast the charm with the dementor?" Harry suggested.

"Alright," Ginny agreed with a determined look on her face.

"On three then, One, Two, Three!" Harry said before wishing the cage open. The effect was immediate. As soon as the bars disappeared, the room was swallowed in cold, even Harry, who was all the way in the back of the room could see his breath. The dementor slowly advanced on Ginny before she seemed to regain her senses.

"_Expecto Patronum!_" Ginny called, trying to focus on the memory of Harry saving her from the Chamber and from Tom, but right as she said the incantation, the memory seemed to be ripped from her mind as the Dementor took in a long, rattling breath. Ginny fell to her knees as she saw Tom, but this time, she didn't pass out, and all of the times she blanked out came to her mind. The first time, when she strangled all of the roosters with her bare hands, using their blood to write the message and petrify Mrs. Norris, the time she managed to petrify Sir Nicholas and Justin… The memories continued until she saw herself writing the last chilling words, "Her chamber will lie in the Chamber forever," before walking to the chamber and feeling her soul being pulled from her, making her weaker and slowly black out, but not before seeing the young Slytherin student, open his mouth and hiss.

"Don't worry, you stupid girl, you won't be alone for long. Your family and Harry will join you soon,_" the specter of Tom spoke as darkness claimed her._

Ginny lay where she collapsed, sometime in between visions, breathing raggedly. She didn't even notice that Harry had successfully cast the patronus charm and drove the dementor back before wishing it away. She felt his warm arms as he lifted her from the padded floor and carried her to the couch where he sat her down and hugged her. The hug drew her focus back to reality and she looked up at him before the reality of everything that she did reached her and she cried.

"… okay? Ginny? What's wrong?" Harry's voice finally broke through the fog in her mind and it acted like a balm to her nerves. She tried to smile weakly at him, though it came as more of a grimace as she shivered despite his warmth.

She crawled up onto his lap and leaned against him before he asked her what was wrong again and for the first time since the chamber, she talked about what happened. Harry held onto her tightly as she explained what Riddle had made her do and how it felt at the end to have her consciousness ripped from her body after writing the final message in blood and Riddle's parting words, then knowing nothing but darkness.

Afterwards, Harry just held onto her as she cried into his chest, rocking her back and forth. After a few minutes, she managed to calm herself. '_Wait… Tom hissed at me as I blacked out, and after we left the chamber…_' she thought, her eyes widening.

"Harry, say something in parseltongue," Ginny said quietly against his chest before leaning back to look at his face.

Harry looked at her for a moment questioningly before imagining a snake in his mind. "_Why?_" he asked, but upon speaking the question Ginny again burst into tears. "Ginny?"

"I-I can understand you," she barely managed to whisper. '_What if Tom put more than the knowledge of parseltongue into my mind?_'

"Ginny, don't worry about it, you are you, he hasn't changed you or put anything in you," Harry said, seeming to read her mind.

"How do you know?" Ginny asked when she has calmed down enough to talk.

"Ginny," Harry said, waiting for her to look at him before continuing, "I know because I'm myself, and I can speak parseltongue."

Ginny's eyes widened slightly and her mouth formed an "o" as understanding flitted across her face before she gave him a large, genuine smile.

"_Can you speak Parseltongue?_" Harry hissed quietly at her, curious.

"I-I wouldn't know how…" she trailed off uncertainly.

"_Try imagining a snake in your mind and wanting to speak to it,_" Harry coached.

Ginny screwed up her eyes and thought for a few moments before opening her mouth, "_How's this?_"

Harry grinned at her as she opened her eyes and she hugged him, before curling up against his chest again. Quietly they spoke parseltongue, Harry telling her some of the adventures he had in his first year, and soon noticed she had fallen asleep. Leaning back against the couch, Harry too began nodding off, the excitement of fighting off the dementor and helping Ginny finally catching up to him. His last thoughts before drifting off to sleep was the dementor, and what memory he kept reliving…

"_Harry!"_

* * *

A few hours later Ginny groggily woke up. The first thing that she noticed was the pleasant warmth enveloping her, the second, that she was sitting upright. '_What..?_' Eyes flying open, she took in her surroundings and remembered what happened. Leaning back against Harry, she looked up and saw his face peaceful and vulnerable in sleep. She enjoyed seeing him like this, one of the few times she'd seen him unguarded. Just when she was considering going back to sleep she felt him stir.

"Harry?"

"Mmm… Mornin' Gin." Harry said as he slowly woke up from his nap. Ginny smiled brightly at her new nickname and gave him a hug.

"Morning. It's probably around afternoon now though," Ginny frowned before closing her eyes slightly, wishing for a clock. From the side of the fire a clock appeared, showing it to be time to be just after noon. Wishing they had food, Ginny frowned when nothing appeared. "I guess the room doesn't make food."

Looking up she saw Harry frown thought fully for a moment before speaking. "I guess that's something that the room can't make… Even if it could when we left, it would vanish."

Ginny nodded slowly in understanding then frowned, "I don't feel like going to the Great Hall though."

Harry thought a moment, "Well, I have an idea for that. Dobby?"

A second later a soft pop had Dobby appearing before them, "Master Harry Potter calls Dobby?"

Harry nodded, "Do you think you could grab me and Ginny some food from the kitchens and bring it back?"

"It would be an honor, Sir." Dobby said as he snapped his fingers and disappeared.

Ginny smiled widely up at Harry before giving him a quick peck on the cheek. Harry smiled as he wished a table in front of them and Ginny straightened out on his lap. Dobby appeared moments later with two goblets and two plates laden with food before bowing off with a pop. Grabbing his left hand with hers, Ginny squeezed if lightly before digging in, feeling Harry lean against her as he two began to eat. The two lightly talked about random things as they ate, wondering what Ron and Hermione were doing, and thinking of ways to sneak into Hogsmeade.

When they finished, the table and plates disappeared. Harry leaned back pulling Ginny with him and wrapped his arms around her. He didn't know why and didn't bother thinking about it, but he enjoyed this new closeness he had with her. It felt comfortable.

Looking at the clock again, Harry sighed. "Come on, we need to get up and face reality… Besides, Ron and Hermione should be back soon." Giving Ginny a small squeeze, he let go, letting her hop off before he stood and stretched.

Walking to the wall, he grabbed Ginny's hand as the door slowly grew from the wall.

* * *

Harry and Ginny sat in the common room, working on their homework, when the portrait hole opened, letting in the other students. The room was crowded by the time Hermione and Ron stumbled through. Harry and Ginny waved at the two as Hermione sat down next to Ginny.

"Oi, Ginny, shove off," Ron said when he reached the couch. He was still put off about Ginny hanging around their group.

"Ronald!" Hermione frowned as Ginny stood. "Ginny, don't. Ron can just find another…" she trailed off as Ginny simply hopped back and plopped down on Harry's lap, "Oh."

Ron's eyes bugged out when he saw his best mate blush lightly but wrap his arms around his little sister's waist. "What the bloody hell..?"

"You wanted me to move so you could sit down, so I did." Ginny shrugged before leaning back into Harry and closing her eyes.

Ron just stood there speechless for a few moments before sitting down, dropping his load of sweets on the table.

"So are you two dating then?" Hermione asked, looking at the couple on the other side of Ron.

"Oh, er…" Harry began before looking at Ginny for backup.

Ginny opened her mouth to speak, "No! My little sister is _not_ dating anyone, especially not my best mate!" Ron said loudly, standing up again and facing the couple. "Why would Harry want to, anyway? She's not even interesting or pretty," he finished, saying what the other boys in the dorm had said.

"What has gotten into you, Ron?" Harry asked as he stood up to face Ron, keeping one arm around Ginny's waist. "You keep saying the same things. Why is it so hard to understand that I find Ginny interesting and that I think she is beautiful?"

Harry froze as Ron stared at him, a bewildered look on his face. '_Did I really just say that?_' Looking down at the girl to his side as she beamed at him, even while blushing scarlet, he found that he really did. Her smile was beautiful and infectious as he grinned back before he saw Ron step forward, eyeing the two.

"I know you've had a crush on Harry for a long time, but giving him a love potion is going too far, Ginny."

"I didn't! How could you even suggest I'd do something like that?" Ginny asked outraged. At the same time, Harry's eyes narrowed, the edge of his sight seeming to burn with a golden hue as he felt his magic well up inside of his chest then he felt his anger pulse, and to his shock the pulse continued outwards, carrying outside of his body and knocking Ron backwards then down to the ground. Around them, the common room grew silent, everyone who felt the pulse trying to see where it came from.

Ron stared at his best mate's eyes in shock as the green seemed to be covered by a golden glow before quickly changing back to normal, his friend's face having morphed from anger to shock. '_What the bloody hell..?_' He wondered yet again as he watched Harry shake his head.

"Y-you alright Ron?" Harry asked as Ron stood up, looking shaken.

"Yeah, but what was that?"

"I… don't know." Harry answered truthfully, looking around as everyone stared at him. Shifting uncomfortably, Harry quickly sat down, trying to sink into the couch and away from the stares. Ginny hesitantly took her seat on Harry's lap again as Ron sat in between the two and Hermione.

As the room went back to what they were doing, Hermione turned to him, "Are you sure you don't know? It can't be accidental magic, you stop doing that in first year after you learn to control your magic by using a wand. Not only that, your eyes had a gold light in them when the wave of magic came out."

"I'm sorry, but I really don't know, Hermione." Harry said, a bit uncomfortable. He really didn't know what had happened and it was scaring him just a little bit.

"Maybe we should see Professor McGonagall tonight at dinner then." Harry nodded and the group sat in silence for a while.

'_I must have really scared her if she's going right to the professors without looking things up…_' Harry mused, feeling slightly guilty, even though he didn't know what was happening to himself.

"I-I'm sorry mate," Ron said weakly, "I just took it a bit too far I guess. I couldn't… I still don't see what you see in my sister." He mumbled the last part.

"It's not me who you should be apologizing to, Ron. You accused Ginny of needing a love potion for anyone to like her," Harry said a little heatedly, "She's not some annoying little girl who is chasing us, she's my friend and your family."

Ron grumbled a bit more, something that sounded like "Sorry Ginny," before he turned away and grabbed a chocolate frog. Ginny leaned back into Harry and looked up to his face. He smiled slightly at her before sighing and grabbing his transfiguration book, propping it open on Ginny's stomach and reading. Looking out of the corner of his eye, at Ron who had just grabbed and opened his divination book, he hoped this was the last time an argument like this happened. He didn't like arguing with his best mate, especially when Ginny was involved.

'_Why doesn't he understand what a strong, amazing person she is?_' He wondered before forcing himself to focus on his book with a small frown.

* * *

After dinner, the four walked up to Professor McGonagall as she was heading down from the head table.

"Professor, we were wondering if we could have a moment of your time… in private." Hermione took over, the others slightly nervous or exchanging looks.

Professor McGonagall looked between the students and nodded curtly before motioning to walk with her, "Come. We can use my office."

The four followed in silence, Ron and Hermione behind the Professor, and Harry and Ginny following. Along the way, Harry caught Ginny looking at him from the corner of her eyes, causing her to flush pink whenever their eyes met. Harry grinned a bit at how cute she looked when they suddenly stopped, facing an ornate stature of a Gryphon on the wall in the first floor corridor that they hadn't noticed before, surprising since they passed by it all the time to get to Transfiguration class. McGonagall stepped forward and whispered a password to the stone before it jumped aside, revealing a door. Upon opening it, the group stepped through into the cozy office space.

Looking around, Harry thought the office reminded him of Dumbledore's, only a bit smaller and decorated in Gryffindor colors.

"How can I help you four today?" the McGonagall asked when she sat down at her desk, motioning for the four to take seats across from her.

"Well, we were wondering if you knew anything about accidental magic after starting school." Hermione began.

If the professor was surprised by the topic, she didn't show it, "Well, as you probably well know, accidental magic normally stops happening after the first year or so of school, after the student learns to control their magic more properly." At their nods, she continued. "A more detailed explanation is that during a child's development, their magical cores, a reservoir of magical energy, grow exceptionally fast. Because of the amount of rest a young child has, the magical energy that is not used to replenish the expanding core is left inside the body but not restrained by anything. Because it is not contained as well, it can be pushed out to affect our world when strong emotions are felt. This is the normal accidental magic."

"So if we slept a lot, we would be able to do accidental magic again?" Ginny asked curiously.

"Supposedly you would be able to, but it would require you sleep most of the day, and then you couldn't use magic of any sort, whether it's recovering from exercise, an injury, or performing any sort of magic."

"But what about accidental magic after we go to school and learn to control our magic?" Hermione asked.

"Generally, there is none. There is wandless magic for those who have a lot of magical energy, as well as complete control over it, though most adult wizards lack the ability. There is also the rare case of someone's magical core shrinking from lack of use, where it shrinks, and the magical energy is left free-floating." McGonagall explained. Seeing the attentive faces of the four, she continued, "Both of these are of course on the opposite end of the spectrum as wandless magic requires much more magical energy to get the same effect because the energy dissipates without the wand as a focus. Now, may I enquire as to why you are interested in this topic and why it requires a private room?"

Hermione turned to Harry as if to ask permission to say what happened. After giving her a nod, she turned back to McGonagall, "Well, it's just… Harry performed accidental magic today in the common room. Not only that, but his eyes turned gold when he did."

McGonagall's eyes widened imperceptibly as she turned her attention to Harry, "Mr. Potter?"

"I-I don't know how it happened," Harry began, "I was angry at Ron for saying something stupid and felt my magic pull together then shoot out…" he finished lamely.

"Have you been able to do anything similar since?"

"I haven't tried," Harry said honestly, "Give me a moment."

At McGonagall's nod, Harry closed his eyes and focused, trying to remember how he felt when Ron had accused Ginny, that overbearing anger he felt when he had hurt her… At that, Harry gave a start, wondering where that thought had come from. However, that brought about the thought of protecting Ginny, and with that thought, he felt the familiar upwelling of magic into his body. Slowly opening his eyes, he saw the same burning gold at the sides of his eyes, and heard his head of house gasp. Looking around at her, his concentration slipped and he felt the magic recede back into himself, his vision going back to normal.

"This is very interesting Mr. Potter, but I must confess I am out of my league in this. I will speak to Professor Dumbledore and perhaps he can help you. Now, if that is all?"

* * *

Days came and went, and as the school year ground on, the quartet forgot about Harry's outburst of magic in favor of classes. Harry was continually excelling in his classes in practical wand work, beating Hermione only slightly due to her excessive studies and practicing.

Harry and Ginny continued to practice the Patronus charm, but despite what memories they chose, they still could not produce fully-formed patroni. Harry's was closest, as his incorporeal form began to take on a decidedly animalistic shape. Gryffindor's first match of the season was against Ravenclaw and was set to be played next weekend, as this coming weekend was another Hogsmeade weekend to the delight of most third years. Harry merely sighed as he sat in the last charms class of the week. As much as he enjoyed the last Hogsmeade trip with Ginny in the Room of Requirement (something they decided to keep to themselves for now), all of the stories from his friends had gotten him worked up about going someday. Given his relationship with the Dursleys at the moment, however, he didn't think it likely to happen anytime soon.

"Mr. Potter?" Professor Flitwick called, breaking him out of his thoughts.

"Sorry, yes professor?"

"Please stay after class is finished." Flitwick said before turning to a pair of girls and showing them the proper motions for the cheering charm. Harry sighed, but it was his own fault in a way. They had been practicing the charm for two classes and he managed to complete it on the third try. Afterwards, Professor Flitwick had told him to either practice ahead or walk around to help others, but he had just sat around for the first half, thinking.

'_At least he didn't take house points,_' Harry mused, even though he wouldn't think the tiny old wizard would normally. Standing up Harry helped some of his fellow Gryfindors and the odd Hufflepuff as they mastered the charm. When the bell ran to begin the weekend, Harry packed slowly and when the last students left, he walked slowly to the front of the room.

"You wished to see me, professor?" Harry asked.

"Yes, I've been talking to Remus, and despite his predecessor's… Lack of ability, we think he had the right idea about forming a dueling club," The short man said happily.

"Erm… What does that have to do with me, sir?" Harry asked slowly, trying to figure where he fit into it.

"I've spoken to Remus and Minerva, and we decided that it would be better to have it be more of a student organization with the staff as sponsors. We've decided to invite all of our promising students to a dueling tournament to decide the leadership positions and since you've shown some extraordinary talent in the practical portion Defence Against the Dark Arts, as well as Charms and Transfiguration, we thought we should invite you to try."

Harry was speechless, "Th-thank you, sir. I would love to try," he stammered out.

"Good, the tournament is in one week's time at seven. If you find any spells you'd like help with feel free to ask me or any of the other three, we'll be glad to assist you."

* * *

"What?" Hermione almost screeched when Harry told them what happened at Flitwick's over breakfast the next day.

"Way to go, mate!" Ron cheered as Ginny gave him a quick congratulatory hug.

"You know there's going to be seventh years there, too," Hermione stated.

Harry frowned. He'd been so caught up with being nominated that he hadn't even thought of that. Suddenly he wasn't looking forward to the tournament as much.

"Oh, don't worry, I'll help you with finding useful spells," Hermione said quickly, digging out a piece of parchment and quill, "I know a few that should be useful already. You can probably look them up when we go to Hogsmeade."

Harry kept his face neutral, hiding his disappointment from showing. He had almost forgot that it was going to be a Hogsmeade weekend, and he didn't really appreciate the reminder. As if sensing his darkening mood, he felt Ginny lightly grabbed his hand under the table and gave it a small squeeze. She was going to be stuck in the common room working on her homework, which she had procrastinated heavily on.

After waving his friends off after breakfast, Harry walked up to Professor Flitwick and asked him about some of the spells that Hermione had given him.

"Oh, good, you've been looking up spells," he smiled, "Come, I can show you a few of them and you can practice in my classroom."

A few hours later, a sweaty Harry, feeling slightly more confident in dueling, walked out of the charms classroom. He felt better having almost mastered the basic shielding charm, a stunning spell and a few other non-lethal spells, some of which the Professor himself had created. Heading back to Gryffindor tower to talk to Ginny before starting his own research spree (some of the spells had given him inspiration), he was suddenly pulled into a classroom.

"Harry," he heard a familiar voice say as he was turned around.

"Fred? George? What are you two doing here?" Harry asked.

"We've heard about your Hogsmeade situation—"

"—From ickle Gin-Gin—"

"—When we asked her why you were still in the castle—"

"Hang on, I didn't see you two at breakfast, how did you know I was still here?" Harry cut them off.

Fred smiled at George, "Right smart this one—"

"—Doesn't miss a trick, does he, oh brother of mine—"

"Harry," they said together, startling him because he was expecting them to go off on another tangent.

"We want to introduce to you to—"

"—one of the secrets to our success." George finished, handing an older-looking piece of parchment.

"Er, thanks?" Harry asked, looking the parchment over before looking back up at the two.

"The Marauder's Map."

Harry was just about to comment that it didn't look like a map when Fred turned to George, "George, if you will?"

"Certainly," George said, taking out his wand and tapping the parchment, "I solemnly swear that I am up to no good."

Before him ink quickly spread out from where the wand touched the parchment and Harry was amazed to see a map of Hogwarts appear.

"Took us near a fortnight to discover that—"

"—time well spent, that—"

"But how did you get it?"

"Nicked it from Filch's office—"

"—first year, mind."

"Passages, leading out of Hogsmeade, ickle Harrykins," Fred said, noticing Harry tracing what looked like a corridor underneath the school.

"You'll want to be careful with these four, mind. Filch knows about them—"

"And this one behind the mirror is collapsed; nobody can get through it anymore—"

"—We recommend using this one—"

"—the one-eyed witch passageway—"

"It'll take you straight to Honeydukes Cellar."

"Thanks," Harry said, wide-eyed, looking over the different areas.

"Just remember, when you are done, say 'Mischief managed,' otherwise anyone can read it."

"We'll leave you to it." Fred said, giving George a grin as they walked out. Harry watched as they made their way to the third floor then midway down the third floor corridor towards the object displayed in that corridor. Suddenly they both popped out of existence, moments later to appear walking through the tunnel and away from the castle.

Folding the map to the seventh floor, he found the map extended even to the common room, showing a few people there, including one "Ginny Weasley". Harry grinned before tapping the map and muttering "Mischief managed," watching the ink lines quickly fade away.

Making his way up to the seventh floor, Harry stowed the map and entered the common room, walking over to greet Ginny. She was still working on her homework, only about halfway done, but he managed to pull her to an empty corner and show her the map.

"Harry!" She hissed when she saw what it did, "Don't you remember Tom Riddle's diary?"

"But it's not the same Gin," Harry countered, "I'm not writing in it, and it just shows where people are, see?" he finished, pointing to where they stood in the common room. "Look, Colin's about to enter the tower."

They tuned when they heard the portrait hole open and sure enough Colin Creevey entered. Harry turned to Ginny with a grin but she was shaking, a frown on her face.

'_How can he be so dense? What happens if it starts to control him? I don't want him to get hurt._' She was so wrapped up in her thoughts that she jumped when she felt Harry wrap an arm around her shoulders.

"Ginny, Fred and George said they've been using this map since their first year, and nothing's happened to them," Harry said and felt Ginny relax slightly.

"Alright, it's just…" but she couldn't finish. She was Harry's friend and didn't want to make things awkward by saying too much.

"It's alright Gin," Harry said and pulled her into a quick hug, "If you don't want me to use it I'll just give it back to Fred and George. I'm sure they have a better use for it with all of their pranks."

'_He'd give it up, just like that? His only chance to go to Hogsmeade?_' Ginny thought in wonder, but immediately felt guilty. "N-no, it's fine… you keep it, just… be careful."

* * *

Harry walked carefully and quietly down the third floor corridor, nose against the map, as he made his way to the one-eyed witch statue. When he was standing in front of it he saw ghostly words hover over it, reading 'Dissendium!'

Shrugging, Harry looked at the statue and whispered, "Dissendium!" Hearing shifting stone, he walked quietly around to the back of the statue where the hump had fallen through, revealing a hole in the back. Looking at the map and seeing the corridor was still deserted, Harry took off the cloak and shoved it inside his bag, whispering "Mischief managed," and stowing the map with it before quickly crawling into the hump.

He slid down a stone tunnel, something reminiscent of the Chamber of Secrets, before falling down onto soft earth. Pulling out his wand, he held it up and muttered "_Lumos!_" lighting up a small patch of the earthen tunnel. Turning back to the tunnel, he saw that it was too steep to climb back up, '_I guess they forgot to mention that…_' Harry thought as he turned back around and began walking to the other end. Just as he thought of that, he remembered, '_Oh, Aura._'

Suddenly before him the fire bird flared into existence, trilling a greeting before quickly landing on his shoulder because of the lack of space.

"Hey girl," Harry greeted as he continued walking again, "What are you doing here?"

Aura nuzzled his cheek before trilling '_You called me, silly._'

"I can call you in my mind?" Harry watched Aura trill again in agreement, '_You can hear my thoughts?_'

Aura agreed again. They continued to walk and before long they reached some worn stone steps, leading upwards. Harry mounted them, going up a few steps until he reached what looked like a stone trapdoor.

"Sorry to brush you off, but I don't think I can sneak in with a phoenix on my shoulder; it would kind of stand out," Harry said as he stroked Aura one last time before she sang a goodbye note and jumped, flaming away.

Harry put down his bag and took out his invisibility cloak, butting it on again before shouldering the bag. Pushing up on the trapdoor, he looked around, seeing boxes and barrels full of candy and other items. Pausing to listen, he didn't hear anyone and so quickly climbed up the rest of the stairs and lowered the trapdoor down again, slightly surprised at how seamlessly it joined with the other tiles. '_Then again, it wouldn't be a secret passageway if anyone could see it._'

Looking around, he saw a wooden staircase in the corner and quietly made his way up it. Cracking it open, he saw he was behind the counter that the owner was currently manning the cash register. Quickly slipping out, he walked to the edge of the counter and quickly made his way to the door, luckily not running into anyone. Walking out into the open streets, Harry spotted Ron and Hermione heading towards him. Deciding now might be his last time to surprise them, he quickly made a few snowballs and waited for them to come closer. Right as they passed him, he picked up a pair and pelted them before grabbing the other two and running to the other side as they quickly turned around, pelting them again. Harry grinned as they turned back again in the mostly deserted street, seeing nobody.

"Who's there?" Ron asked as Hermione took a step closer to him. Deciding to play nice, Harry flipped back his hood and grinned as Ron relaxed. "Harry, what are you doing here, mate?"

"Harry! You're not supposed to be here, you don't have a forum!" Hermione huffed, apparently still a bit put off by the snowballs.

Harry looked around and took off his cloak when he saw nobody watching. "Fred and George told me about a secret passageway," he answered, deciding to keep the map to himself for a while. He fell into step besides Hermione.

"They never told me about a secret passageway," Ron griped "and I'm their brother!"

"Harry, you can't stay here, if you're seen, you'll get into trouble!"

"Lighten up, Hermione, it's the last trip before the Christmas hols," Ron said. Hermione huffed but stopped complaining. "To Honeydukes then?"

They set off for the store and Harry entered, this time fully visible into the bustling shop. He hadn't been outside long, but it was nice to get back into the warmth of the store.

"We just came from Zonko's, we can go there again if you want or try some of the other stores," Hermione offered as they browsed the aisles. Harry picked up a few of the larger chocolate bars, a box of sugar quills and some fizzing whizbees, and, showing caution, got Rom to buy them for him, after giving him the money. After the other two bought their candies, they headed out down the street, pointing out the many stores.

They ended up going to Odin's Odds and Ends for Harry to pick up a few things (this time paying for himself), Dervish and Banges for more magical gear, and an outlet of Flourish and Blotts to pick up a book for Hermione, and one on moderate dueling spells.

"Come on, Harry, haven't you bought enough already?" Ron griped as they stepped out of the bookstore, "Come on, I'm hungry, let's go to the Tree Broomsticks."

Having finished shopping for everyone, including getting a few other items, Harry had no objections and together the three walked over to the pub…

* * *

A/N: My eternal gratitude for the creator of my shiny new HTML converter, BetaProgrammer. It has made transitioning to SIYE fast and easy, and I cannot thank him enough for that.

A/N: Took longer than I was hoping but I did manage to get it by the weekend. Next chapter, dueling… Won't make any promises, but this chapter promises to be fun to write, so hopefully it will be posted in the not so distant future. As always, feel free to leave a review.


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